Barrington man pulled from water just short of finish in Nantucket-to-Martha's Vineyard swim
Barrington resident Doug McConnell fell about a half-mile short of touching land Wednesday in his effort to achieve what could have been the longest Atlantic Ocean swim between two well-known Massachusetts islands to raise money for ALS research.
Joined by a crew of local boat captains, navigation experts and ocean kayakers, McConnell began at Nantucket's Eel Point and after 18 miles ended short of the Edgartown lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard. He was pulled from Nantucket Sound for his and a kayaker's safety due to rip currents and jellyfish, according to a social media post from his nonprofit, A Long Swim.
McConnell, 61, wound up about a half-mile short of officially finishing because he swims under the English Channel rules that require starting and ending on dry land. He also was not allowed to touch a boat or anyone on it and fed only from a drinking bottle the crew tossed to him.
He was supposed to swim Monday, but rough Atlantic Ocean conditions forced the postponement to Wednesday. McConnell set a goal of the open water marathon generating at least $100,000 for A Long Swim.
According to the Vineyard Gazette, Deb Taylor Blair and James Pittar were the first to swim the channel between the islands in 2000, but they went in the opposite direction to Nantucket. McConnell's swim from Nantucket to Martha's Vineyard would have been longer.
McConnell, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, uses long-distance swims to raise money through his nonprofit for Northwestern University's collaborative research of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's a progressive neuromuscular disease without prevention or cure.
In an effort to keep sharks away, McConnell wore a high-tech ankle device that interferes with animals' electroreception to find prey. He ended in an area about 4 miles from where Edgartown police announced a shark sighting July 30.
Ellen McConnell Blakeman co-founded A Long Swim with her brother in 2011. A gifted athlete who ran marathons, Blakeman was 63 when she died in 2018 after a lengthy fight with ALS.
Doug McConnell's father, David, died from ALS in 2006. David McConnell was a well-known veterinarian who served as an East Dundee village trustee from 1987 to 1993.
An early evening party was held to celebrate McConnell's swim from Nantucket to Martha's Vineyard at the Harbor View Hotel near the Edgartown lighthouse.