HUDSON VALLEY – The sixth annual 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim begins this coming Sunday and continues for seven days.
A total of 59 swimmers will cover all or part of the river from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge at Hudson south to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – the entrance to the New York Harbor.
The swim will string together the Rip Van Winkle, Kingston-Rhinecliff, Mid-Hudson, Newburgh-Beacon, Bear Mountain, Tappan Zee, George Washington and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, covering 120 miles of river. Each day, up to 14 marathon swimmers will swim each of the seven stages. Seven swimmers will attempt the full seven-day event.
Among them is Paige Christie, 23, of North Andover, Maine. She has already accomplished other marathon fetes including swimming the 21-miles across the English Channel, but swimming the Hudson has an even more attractive allure, she said.
“The Hudson is such an historic piece of water with its history of your ancestors immigrating to Ellis Island and how it flows out into the harbor in New York,” Christie said. “It’s going to be quite an excitable swim from an historical perspective along with the distance.”
Paige Christie (inset) swimming in the English Channel
Swimmers range in age from 17 to 64 and will travel from Italy, Mexico, New York, Texas, California, Arizona, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Washington DC, to participate in the event.
