Kathy Bradshaw To Swim Around Island August 11
By Eric Fish

Wearing her swim gear, Kathy Bradshaw prepares for the Alcatraz Invitational Swim last September, which starts at Alcatraz and ends in San Francisco Bay. She plans to swim around Mackinac Island Saturday, August 11. (Photograph supplied by Kathy Bradshaw)

Kathy Bradshaw plans to put her swimming skills to the test Saturday, August 11, when she will swim around Mackinac Island. Weather permitting, Ms. Bradshaw will begin the swim at 9:30 a.m. at the Star Line dock and head west around the Island, concluding her swim at the Arnold dock. She said the 8.2-mile swim should take more than four hours to complete.

"I'm excited," said Ms. Bradshaw, 34.

She swam in the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim last year, swam in the River Seine in Paris, and took part in the Alcatraz Invitational Swim in San Francisco Bay, where she and about 600 other swimmers braved cold temperatures.

Ms. Bradshaw resides in New York City but is originally from Niles and worked at the Lake View Hotel for a summer when she was in college.

She considers Mackinac Island a "good memory place," which is an important factor in determining her swimming plans.

"As a swimmer, I am always interested in swimming in the waters in and around the places I love," she said. "It's sort of like 'swimming tourism.' Some people go places to visit monuments or museums, I go places to swim around them."

She expects Mackinac Island to offer its share of challenges. The temperature could be as low as 50 degrees, which would be even colder than her Alcatraz swim.

"I know that it's going to be cold, and I'm a little concerned about that," she noted. "I do have some cold water experience, like swimming in the Gulf of Mexico for two and a half hours in February," where temperatures fluctuated between 63 and 65 degrees.

To help combat the cold, Ms. Bradshaw will wear a wet suit, and will be accompanied in the water and on land by friends and family.

She is registered for two organized swims this summer in New York, and already has some ideas for her next independent swimming adventure.

"If ever I dare, maybe I'll see if they'll let me swim from one end of Paris to the other," she said.