Open water swimmer finishes 82-mile dip across Arizona lake
Oct 7, 2016, 9:12 AM | Updated: 2:14 pm
(Facebook Photo/Ken Classen)
(Facebook Photo/Ken Classen)
PHOENIX — There is nothing like a brisk swim in the morning. Or a couple of mornings in the case of of a woman who completed an 82-mile swim across Lake Powell.
Sarah Thomas finished the swim in 56 hours and afterward told the Associated Press she was exhausted and hungry.
Thomas never stopped swimming to make sure that she qualified for a record for an unassisted marathon swim.
According to Open Water Swimming’s website, “Jamie Patrick, one of her escort pilots wrote, ‘There is nothing to say except that Sarah Thomas is beyond incredible.'”
The lake, a reservoir on the Colorado River, rests on the border between Arizona and Utah.
The water temperature averages 67 degrees in October.
The Denver Post reported that independent judges watched the swim from a trailing boat.
Thomas had a team of 13 people with her who traveled by boat and delivered food to her every half hour. The food consisted of two liquid carbohydrate and electrolyte mixtures.
Thomas said it was difficult to walk afterward because her feet and body were so weak.
Thomas, of Conifer, Colorado, had performed marathon swims previously but never as long as her journey on Lake Powell along the Arizona-Utah border.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
