HUDSON ODYSSEY
8 Bridges is an eight-day adventure down the Hudson River, NY, covering 120 miles.
By Liz Morrish
In April there can still be ice on the Hudson River but just over two months later, a group of swimmers took to the water to attempt the stages of the Hudson River 8 Bridges Marathon Swim 2017. Eight days on, nine of them had successfully completed this 120-mile odyssey from its starting point near Kingston, NY, following the river due south to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which marks the point at which the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The swim consists of seven stages of between 13.2 and 19.8 miles, punctuated each day by starting and finishing at one of the Hudson River’s eight bridges. Organisers Rondi Davies, David Barra and Alex Arevalo of New York Open Water have been running the event since 2011 and, until this year, the list of successful swimmers included just six individuals. This year the 8 Bridges hall of fame was swelled by nine more swimmers.