Endurance swimmer Kathleen Wilson has traveled around the United States and the world to test herself on open waters for more than 13 years.
Her international swims have included the English Channel in 2001, Switzerland's Lake Zurich in 2005 and the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 2008. Endurance swimmer Kathleen Wilson of James Island competed the first known distance swim in Charleston on Saturday. The 16.25-mile swim started at the James B. Edwards Bridge before daybreak and ended nearly seven hours later at the Gen. William B. Westmoreland Bridge. But like millions of Americans dealing with uncertain times in the wake of the Great Recession, Wilson, the principal harpist for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, decided the time was right for a staycation swim. After all, there's plenty of open water here. On Saturday, with the support of three friends as kayaking crew members, Wilson swam 16.25 miles around the Charleston peninsula, from the Interstate 526 bridge over the Wando River to the I-526 bridge over the Ashley River. It took her 6 hours, 58 minutes. Despite the challenges of wind and choppy waters, Wilson finished about an hour faster than she anticipated and climbed out of the Ashley remarkably fresh, and relieved. "The most gratifying thing to me was that I still had big swimming chops left. Because of my shoulder (injury in 2009) and the uncertainty of my life in the past year, I still have it," said the 47-year-old James Island resident and Charleston City Council member. Wilson was driven to swim the peninsula for another reason. She wants to generate interest in holding an endurance swim in Charleston, as some have in such places as Chesapeake Bay, Tampa Bay and Key West. "I want to start a long swim in Charleston. Whether or not this is the exact course, I don't know. This course would be for distance swimmers with experience," said Wilson, adding that the swim mostly likely would need financial backers and a large number of boaters and kayakers to volunteer support. The intent of the swim, she added, would be to raise money for a foundation to build much-needed, adequate aquatics facilities in Charleston. Wilson's swim, as many do, started in the dark of morning. She and her crew embarked from under the James B. Edwards Bridge at 6:10 a.m. "Once we got into the water and started, it was great. She had a chem light (glow-in-the-dark light) on her back and she just glowed," said crew member Eric Ruckel, who was inspired by Wilson to swim around Key West. "It was the coolest thing going from her glowing in the dark to the sunrise." Wilson swam the Wando River fast and efficiently, but she and the crew decided to hold up at the shipping channel for three minutes to let a barge pass before entering Charleston Harbor. Still, they reached The Battery an hour before they expected, which wasn't good because the tide had yet to switch to a favorable incoming flow for the swim up the Ashley. However, she didn't experience any problems until reaching the Coast Guard Station, when choppy water slowed her down. "I made progress by the foot," she said. The water smoothed out just long enough to give her a break before she entered the toughest segment of Saturday's swim, from The Citadel to Cosgrove Avenue. She described it as "disheartening." "It was rough, there was wind coming right at us and there was no tide help at all," said Wilson. "It was pure swimming and, again, progress was by the foot." At that point, Ruckel said if he stopped paddling, the wind would blow the kayak backward. Dolphins, perhaps sensing the stress, joined them for a few minutes of the leg. The final leg, from the World War II Memorial Bridge at Cosgrove to the Gen. William B. Westmoreland Bridge at I-526, was the most exhilarating for all involved. The conditions improved, and Ruckel said that Wilson's stroke smoothed out to a rhythmic 78 strokes per minute. (Yes, he was counting.) And unbeknownst to Wilson and the crew, a Charleston police boat joined them for the leg. Wilson looked rather Michael Phelps-like as she headed to the finish just under the Westmoreland. Her two hands shot up the air, as did the paddles of her friends, as signs of her accomplishment. All along the way, spectators -- from strollers on The Battery and College of Charleston rowers to fishermen on bridges -- cheered her on. Her husband, Fred, and children Christine and Robbie stopped at a couple of bridges to root for her. Upon arriving on terra firma at the W.O. Thomas Boat Landing, she was congratulated by her crew members, Ruckel, Lesley Fanning and Gary McElveen, as well as her land support crew member, John Fanning. With a smile, Wilson said, "It is so wonderful to be on the open water again and to go for hours and hours with good friends. ... This is my escape." Kathleen Wilson's endurance swims:
1997: Around Key West, Fla., 12.5 miles.
1999: Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, New York, 28.5 miles.
2001: English Channel, England/France, 21 miles.
2003: Tampa Bay Marathon Swim, Florida, 24 miles.
2004: Catalina Island to Long Beach, Calif., 22 miles.
2005: Lake Zurich Marathon Swim, Switzerland, 17 miles.
2006: St. Vincent's Swim Across the Sound, New York, 15 miles.
2007: Santa Barbara (Calif.) Channel Swim, 20 miles.
2008: Strait of Gibraltar, Spain to Morocco, 11.2 miles.
2010: Charleston peninsula, I-526 bridge to bridge, 16.25 miles
