Sound Swimmers

This summer, while you and I “swam” — in other words, did a lap or two in a clear, chemically balanced pool — 5 Westport teenagers swam.

In other words, they started at Port Jefferson, Long Island.  They finished in Bridgeport.  In between, they stroked their way — for 15 long, choppy miles — across Long Island Sound.

The event was the 24th annual Swim Across the Sound.  It’s a benefit for St. Vincent’s Medical Center Foundation.  This year 3 Abel siblings — Larry, Joss and Verity, and fellow Staples swim team members Kyle Bacon and Gabby Wimer — swam in honor of  the Abels’ father, a cancer survivor, and Masato Sakaguchi, a 4-year-old from Fairfield who died a year ago of a brain tumor.

(From left): Gabby Wimer, Joss and Larry Abel, plus Kyle Bacon and Verity Abel, pose happily after completing their cross-Sound swim.

The swimmers rotated half-mile shifts.  Together, they covered the 15 1/2 miles in 6 hours, 5 minutes and 2 seconds.

That’s about the time it took me this summer to apply sunscreen.  It earned the Westporters — all present or former Staples swim team members — 5th place overall.

This month, MSG Varsity ran a story on the quintet.

“It was way choppier than I thought it would be,” Joss said during the segment.  “And all the (support) boats looked the same.”

“It was 20 times more tiring than I thought,” Verity added.  “Every splash of water felt like a tsunami.”

Kyle said, “I went into the last leg tired, and I came out tired.  But the adrenaline made me feel good.”

So does the knowledge that he — and his 4 waterlogged, weary but motivated friends — raised $11,000 to help turn the tide against cancer.