Amazing Race: Athletes Span Eight Bridges In Hudson Swim

The six swimmers doing today's leg of the 8 Bridges open swim will swim the 15.7 miles from the Tappan Zee to the George Washington.

"They're all crazy," jokes captain Greg Porteus, transporting the crew from the Ossining marina to just under midspan of the TZB.

No, not crazy, corrects his daughter Amanda, who has been gathering footage for a documentary she's been making on the swim for the last three years. She calls them instead a super-accomplished breed, "juiced up Type A's, incredibly motivated and ambitious."

The swimmers come from all over - Finland, Texas, Brooklyn. Among them are doctors, lawyers, PhDs. Half of them today are women, two of which are in their 60s, all pulled by the challenges and beauty of this stretch of the river. They come for various stages of the race from Bear Mountain to the Verrazano Narrows, bridge by bridge, day by day. Only three swimmers have completed every leg, including race founder David Barra. Another 8 Bridge veteran swimmer Rondi Davies has to sit this one out as she has her five-week-old baby strapped on her in the Launch 5 boat. 

Mo Siegel of Piermont will swim his third leg today and says, surprisingly, that he enjoys the view while he's out there in the center of the river, pushed by the ebb of the tide. 

A kayaker accompanies each swimmer, providing food and drink as needed for what could be a five hour journey. Launch 5 and county police marine units help protect the vulnerable swimmers from oncoming traffic, working the radios and at times racing ahead to slow speeding jet skiers. 

Swimmers prepare themselves with salves - heavy-duty sunscreen, vaseline to protect from chafing on their swimsuit straps - and don goggles and a bathing cap. In a second, before any cameras even catch it, it's "splash," and five of the six have jumped off in the boat and are in the waters, slowly and steadily heading south. The sixth swimmer, John Royer, will jump in last since he's expected to be fastest; they want to keep the swimmers together for safety. 

Grace Van Der Byl, spoken of like a legend, joined the first legs of the race but is flying home to California today and is on land resting. She's an Olympic hopeful for 2016 but worried about getting the funding. Porteus said he'd help to get her there, "whatever it takes. She's amazing, probably the fastest open swimmer in the world."

These swimmers have traversed the waters of the English Channel, Catalina Island, Alcatraz, the Chesapeake, under the Brooklyn Bridge, off the shore of Coney Island, but it's the Hudson they've been training for lately. Open swimming obviously presents different challenges than a swimming pool and these swimmers aren't amateurs. They say their biggest concern is paying attention to their bodies out there. 

"All you hear is water," said Christopher Stephens, from New York City, saying he can't hear the cheering from boats when he's swimming, but he does look around at his surroundings. He calls today's leg the easiest stretch of the 8 bridge span, with its strong current in the center channel and straight shot to the George Washington Bridge far off in the distance.

"Open water swimmers love to find new challenges in new bodies of water," said Barra. "The Hudson is this resource right under our noses that's underutilized, and it's beautiful to swim."