Conrad Fitch Kubaney - Lake Erie

Long Point, Ontario to North East Twp, Pennsylvania

38.3 km (23.8 miles)

10 hours, 56 minutes on 4 August 2018

Observed and documented by Tommy Steele

Co-ratified with Lake Erie Open Water Swimming Association (LEOWSA)

Fastest Lake Erie swim - Long Point-North East course

Contents

Swimmer

  • Name: Conrad Fitch Kubaney
  • Gender: male
  • Age on swim date: 26
  • Nationality: US
  • Resides: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Support Personnel

  • Karla Razanauskas - Team Mom
  • Paula Allhouse - kayaker
  • Mitchell Razanauskas - kayaker
  • Sean Tucker - kayaker/medical
  • Brian Hanne - kayaker/medical
  • Maria Tarbell - kayaker
  • Mike Kneidinger - kayaker/lifeguard
  • Tommy Steele - LEOWSA observer

Escort Vessel: Irish Mist (Erie, PA)

Swim Parameters

Category: Solo, nonstop, unassisted.

Rules: MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, without exception or modification.

Route Definition

  • Body of Water: Lake Erie
  • Route Type: one-way
  • Start Location: Tip of Long Point, Ontario, near lighthouse (42.547779, -80.049072)
  • Finish Location: Freeport Beach, North East Twp, Pennsylvania (42.241647, -79.833181)
  • Minimum Route Distance: 38.3 km (23.8 miles)

History

List of Lake Erie swims (LongSwimsDB)

Swim Data

  • Start: 4 August 2018, 06:08, Eastern Daylight Time
  • Finish: 4 August 2018, 17:04
  • Elapsed: 10 hours, 56 minutes, 45 seconds.

Summary of Conditions

Feature Min Max
Water Temp (F) 70 76
Air Temp (F) 70 77
Wind (kt) calm 15 SW

GPS Track

Trackpoint frequency: 30 minutes. Download raw data (CSV).

Speed Plot

Nutrition

Infinit Nutrition protein/carbohydrate shake, GU gel packs

Observer Log

Download PDF

Narrative

by observer Tommy Steele

At approximately 5 o’clock a.m. on August 4th, Conrad and his crew woke up to begin the day. We applied his sunscreen and lanolin and he hoped in the water and swam to shore. We arrived on the beach at Long Pointe and set up on shore to begin the swim. After radioing back to the boat, we began the swim at 6:08 a.m.

We noticed the rough waters early on, they seemed to have no effect on the swimmer at this time, so we continued through the difficulties the kayakers were encountering. Within the first 30 minutes the kayakers started to take on water. With three kayaks in the water to start the swim, we had one that needed to be pulled out and drained before the first hour. The other two kayaks continued with the swimmer. Around this time, three of the kayakers on the boat fell ill with sea sickness. This left us with three available kayakers for the next 5 hours.

What Conrad instructed his mom and team to do was take two scoops of the infinite powder and place them into a water bottle. The water bottle was then to be filled up until there was 20oz. of water reconstituted with the powder of the drink. He requested that the feeds be backed off to 18oz. approximately six hours. A Gu was to be taped onto the water bottle. He would then drink the feed from the water bottle and finish up with a shot of Gu. At eight hours, we started to give a second Gu pack for each feed.

Over the next five hours, we continued to have issues with the kayaks having several others bring on too much water to continue without being drained. Conrad remained stable and moving forward in the water despite the extreme waves early in the swim. We were stopping for feeds regimentally every hour. Conrad was consisted in his stroke tempo, he was cognizant and lucid when talking to us about how he was feeling in the water. We started the swim with three to four-foot waves and during the first five hours, they dissipated to one to three-foot waves. Conrad was unfazed by the turbulence.

After the first five hours past, the kayakers with sea sickness began to feel better and were able to get into the kayaks and assist with trading off positions and bringing out feeds from the boat. Over the next five hours the waves continued to ease, and we no longer had any issues with kayaks taking on water. Conrad remained lucid albeit he was tired and irritable, but our conversations and questions were answered without raising any alarm. At this time in the swim, I determined it was best to drop to forty-five minutes between breaks. We continued this feeding break up until the last feed. We dropped this feed because it was the final push to the finish.

For the last two hours, we put all the kayaks in and did the final push. All the way to the finish Conrad remained cognizant and stable in the water. His tempo had dropped but not significantly to make note of. Conrad completed his swim in 10 hours 56 minutes and 45 seconds in a record time for the crossing.

Photos

Click to enlarge.

Video

Media

Conditions Data

NOAA Forecast

Wind

NDBC Station 45167

Water Temp

Air Temp

NDBC Station 45167