Distance across Lake Erie remains the same, but open-water swimming attempts may be harder
No Lake Erie swimming course is more popular than the one between Long Point, Ontario, and North East’s Freeport Beach.
No swimmer is more familiar with those 24.3 miles than Josh Heynes, the first person to cross it twice, in 2006 and again in 2011.
The multiple crossings that followed, though, are why the 1993 McDowell graduate is a true expert on that passage.
Heynes in 2012 co-founded the Lake Erie Open Water Swimming Association. He and his crew became the organization that potential Lake Erie swimmers sought out to assist and sanction their attempts at completing what’s now known as the lake’s standard route.
Eighteen individuals have completed that course with the association's full or partial assistance. Among them was Rob Cooney, who crossed on July 19, 2018.
Cooney quickly rose to second in the association chain of command.
“Every time a swimmer went, for (most of us) in the group it was like us doing our swims again,” Heynes said. “For myself, Rob, Elliot Spaeder and Melanie Reade, it was like reliving it every single time.”
That shared spirit and camaraderie is what made Heynes’ decision in February to close down the association even more agonizing.
“This decision does not come easy to us after over a decade of preparing, monitoring and ratifying swimmers with their teams across Lake Erie,” Heynes wrote in the announcement on Facaebook. “This is not due to a lack of swimmers or interested parties that aspire to do this individual feat in the coming years, but for various other reasons.”
2022 swim: Penn State graduate Abby Fairman latest swimmer to cross Lake Erie
Communication breakdown
Heynes provided specifics about the disbandment in recent interviews and emails with the Erie Times-News.
The first reason, he said, was a sudden lack of communication with the Marathon Swimmers Federation. The association's 2012 start coincided with that organization’s creation by co-founders Evan Morrison and Don Buckley.
Foundation personnel informed Heynes in 2023 that they had an issue with the association's information packet given to potential Lake Erie swimmers.
It wasn’t because the packet was light on details and regulations, but that there were too many.
“It was a very detailed packet after a decade of experience doing this,” Heynes said. “They thought 26 pages of information was a little excessive. It was information, plus the registration.”
Heynes went to work paring the packet. He went back and forth with Marathon Swimmers Federation about the changes throughout that process.
The association sent its final draft to the federation in October. Heynes waited for a response.
Then waited.
Then waited more.
Heynes said he and Cooney repeatedly sought to speak with federation personnel, by phone or video, but never heard back.
“Not even a response of, ‘Forget you guys’ or ‘You’re out,’” Heynes said. “It was very unusual. If (a swimmer) isn’t going to be recognized (by the federation), then what’s the point of the whole thing?”
The Times-News contacted Morrison, himself an open-water swimmer, by phone at his San Francisco home. He said family issues were why he didn’t contact Lake Erie association personnel over the end of last year and apologized to Heynes for his lack of communication.
Morrison said the federation reached out to Heynes in February, but by then it was too late. Heynes was past the point of no return.
“I was impressed with their work,” Morrison said. “I know it’s hard to run an association. It was great working with them for all those years, but nothing great lasts forever.”
“Maybe this was best for them.”
North East Marina issue
Heynes emphasized his Feb. 2 announcement wasn’t solely based on the communication breakdown with MSF.
In retrospect, he said the beginning of the end could be traced to the ongoing financial issues regarding North East Marina.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which purchased the marina in 1991, closed its 220 private slips at the end of the 2023 boating season. The commission cited increased costs, necessitated by the Pennsylvania Department for Environmental Protection, to dredge the sediment.
A minimum 5-foot water depth is needed for boats to enter and depart the marina.
The North East Borough Council, by a 5-1 vote, took a step in establishing an authority to take over the marina from the commission during its April 1 meeting.
“The sooner you can get rolling with this, the sooner the boaters can get in the water,” council President Amber Belson said.
While the marina’s public docks and boat launches remain open, there was little to no chance the Lake Erie Open Water Swimming Association could aid any Lake Erie attempts without its full and established inclusion.
“That’s a safety issue for us because that’s (almost) where we finish,” Heynes said. “If they’re not available at Freeport, that also affects fire departments and possibly launching from there. Without (the marina’s help), we’d probably have to finish at Shade’s Beach (in Harborcreek Township).”
“Having that marina that close at the finish line, you could get off the boat and be done.”
More: Borough, township continue work to save North East Marina, reopen private slips
Heynes also mentioned that the brunt of costs to conduct such swims were between the swimmer and one boat's captain.
"We didn't want to interfere with that negotiation of price based upon boat gas and what the captains felt their day on the water was worth to them," he said.
‘Maybe it was just time’
The personal sacrifices of the Lake Erie association’s crew were the final reason behind Heynes’ decision.
Morrison mentioned family issues for why he didn’t contact Heynes at the end of last year. Heynes wasn’t about to fault Morrison there.
Heynes and his family live in Cranberry Township, where Interstate 79 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike intersect.
Preston Heynes, Josh Heynes’ son, just concluded his sophomore season with Mars Area High School’s swimming and diving program. Preston Heynes was good enough to qualify for the YMCA National Short Course Swimming Championships, a five-day meet that ended April 1 at Greensboro, North Carolina.
Josh Heynes said he was attending that meet as he contacted the Times-News via email.
Ely Cooney, Rob Cooney’s son, just completed his sophomore season with Cathedral Prep’s swimming and diving team. He’s also active with USA Water Polo, which means he’s participated in tournaments beyond northwestern Pennsylvania.
For Heynes and Cooney, trips to watch their sons compete might not have happened in past years because of their responsibilities with lake crossing attempts.
“There are families behind LEOWSA members who support these (Lake Erie) swimmers,” Heynes said.“(These attempts) take away a lot of time from our jobs, our families and our vacations.
“Our kids are getting older, so maybe it really was just time.”
What's next for Lake Erie swim attempts?
Heynes mentioned two organizations as potential replacements for the Lake Erie association in his Facebook announcement.
One, the Lake Ontario Swim Team, confirmed in a Times-News email that it’s out.
“Sorry,” LOST founder Rob Kent wrote, “we don’t do that anymore.”
Heynes also mentioned Great Lakes Open Water Adventures. Janice Barker is listed as president of the Toronto-based organization.
Calls and emails to GLOW weren’t returned.
Abby Fairman will be last person to have crossed Lake Erie with the aid of the Lake Erie Open Water Swimming Association. The 1999 Penn State University graduate briefly stood on Freeport Beach’s sand 15 hours, 27 minutes and 30 seconds after she took off from Long Point on July 3, 2022.
Fairman, a Los Angeles resident, was the first who completed the course in nearly three years. That time void was mostly due to the 2020-21 COVID-19 travel restrictions between the United States and Canada.
Two other swimmers were scheduled to cross Lake Erie in the weeks after Fairman.
An attempt by Washington state resident Kerry Hills was canceled before it began. The other, by Jeanne Debonis, concluded when the Cleveland resident suspended her attempt less than three miles from Freeport.
Debonis, who was 57 at that time, sought to become the oldest female to complete the course.
Heynes indicated there were six swimmers on LEOWSA’s waiting list for 2023. Of those six, three were expected to try this summer.
Heynes wished them well should they still go for it.
“Guess it’s time to see what else is going on when the open-water swimming gods are against you,” he said.
Also on the lake: Surfing Lake Erie waves in December? Why now is the most wonderful time of the year
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Lake Erie swimmers lose group that helped their chances to cross
