Alumni team braves chop and chill to conquer the ultimate swimmer’s challenge

By Lawrence Napolitano ’97

In the fall 2001 issue of Holy Cross Magazine, a small box was published querying alumni as to their interest in participating in a swim around Manhattan Island. That small box was the genesis of the Holy Cross College Alumni Swimming Club. Three years later, the club is going strong. And recently, a hearty and enthusiastic group of alumni swimmers traveled to the United Kingdom for a Crusader event that won’t soon be forgotten. 

In late August, six alumni traveled to England with the goal of swimming the 19.1 nautical miles known as the English Channel. The Channel is widely considered one of the toughest long-distance swim challenges in the world. With its vast currents and tough tides, only 75 percent of the people who attempt the crossing actually manage their goal.

Mike Toner ’63, Len Conti ’60, Frank Bongiorno ’65, Bob Somma ’66, Chris O’Connell ’67 and Michele Intermont ’89 became one of the oldest relay groups in history to make the trip from the coast of England to the coast of France.

The group has been swimming in marathon races for the past two years, but this was something very different. There are three real marathon swimming races: the race around Manhattan; the swim around Catalina Island in California; and the English Channel. The group, which had done the Manhattan race three times, was looking for something different when O’Connell came up with the idea of heading to England to take on the Channel. 

“It was all Chris’ idea,” says Toner, the club organizer. “He mentioned it after we finished the Manhattan Island race, and I tried to put it together.” 

Managing the logistics of the trip was no small feat. Toner worked diligently to put a team together and book the flights and hotel accommodations.

“Our record-setting Channel swim was all due to Mike’s leadership and hard work,” says Conti.  “Between his organizing the team, all of the scheduling with the Channel Swimmers’ Federation, handling all of the financing, making our hotel accommodations and reservations, providing local transport, working out our swim logistics, our food stuffs, tee shirts, equipment, it was incredible. He deserves the credit. We just took part in the swim.” 

In order to swim the Channel, individuals or relay teams must apply to one of two organizations that handle the crossings. When Mike first contacted the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation, there was some reservation by the organization about allowing an older group to swim the channel.

“I was really nervous about their (The Federation) not taking us because of our age,” Toner says.  “I had to convince them that we could do it. We had some pretty good times for Manhattan, and I think that helped convince them.” 

The Crusaders first applied for the swim in November 2003 but did not receive approval by the Federation until early March of this year.  The club chose to swim the week of Aug. 23–28―and one of the requirements of the Federation is that the swim take place in the week that it’s scheduled. If the weather forces cancellations, the swimmers are out of luck. Traditionally, eight boats depart at the same time from different locations in England―with the English and French Coast Guards closely monitoring both the swimmers and the normal maritime traffic in the area. 

According to Toner, the ideal path in the Channel extends from Dover, England, to Cap Gris Nez in France. The trip should take 19.1 nautical miles, but due to the currents in the Channel, most swimmers log between 20-30 miles. The recommended route is a bell curve design used to take advantage of the currents.  Each of the swimmers in a relay is in the water for one hour before being relieved by the next member of the group. The swimmers cycle in order until the shore is reached, or the swimmer is pulled from the water―whichever comes first. According to the rules, the swimmers cannot touch each other in the water nor can they receive any assistance from the pilot boat. Any touch of the boat or another swimmer disqualifies the attempt. The pilot’s association that governs the swim has an observer on the boat to ensure safety and conformance to the rules. 

With the team and all the arrangements set, the Crusaders arrived in England on Aug. 21. Unfortunately for the Crusaders, the remnants of Hurricane Charley had hit the Channel earlier that week, and the Federation was not sure if anyone would get the opportunity to swim the Channel. With “force five” winds and dangerous chop―and the Federation canceling all swims on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday―the team feared it would not get to swim during the scheduled week.  

“The waiting was the hardest part, and I think that we were all hyped up to go on Thursday,” says Intermont. “Jack and Pam McManus had arrived, and we were hanging around early that evening, waiting for the final word. It was really tough. We were told maybe we could go on Saturday and, then again, maybe we would be going home without trying. When the word came on Friday night that we would be going, it was simply a relief to me. I had been ready for days, and I couldn’t wait to reach Shakespeare Beach so we could begin.” 

Finally, at 7:32 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28, the Holy Cross College Alumni Swimmers got their opportunity. The Crusaders set the order with Intermont leading off―followed by Somma, Toner, O’Connell, Bongiorno, and, finally, Conti. Once Conti had finished his one-hour swim, the rotation would start again.

With extremely rough seas on the day of the race, several Crusaders came down with sea-sickness. 

“I thought of myself as the unofficial leader and,” says Toner, “and―as they say―the leader sets the tone. I got seasick as soon as we got out of the harbor, and Frank, Chris and Michele quickly followed suit.”

Despite the sickness, Intermont initiated the Crusaders’ crossing from Shakespeare Beach. When the pilot of the boat, Neil Streeter, sounded his horn and started the clock, she raced for the water and dove in to begin her hour of swimming. 

“ I'm usually a person who takes forever to get into the water when I go swimming,” Intermont says.  “Especially when the water is cold. But for this swim, I really couldn’t wait to get going. The swim itself was great.”

After Intermont finished her section, Somma, an attorney with the Boston firm Seyfarth Shaw, leaped into the Channel. 

“It was more challenging and much harder―and in a different way than I had imagined,” Somma says.  “Unlike the Ironman triathlons I’ve done, there was continuing uncertainty as to whether we would actually make it to the French coast, given the vagaries of the tides, currents, water temperature and surface, and the wind.” 

The relay was uneventful for the first rotation―and into the second rotation―but the group still had to fight some discouragement. 

“The White Cliffs of Dover are so big―every time you would look behind, you would always see them and feel as if you were not going anywhere,” says Toner. “The pilot said the best advice he could give us was not to look back anymore.” 

At the end of the second rotation, as the sun was beginning to set and the Crusaders had been in the water for 12 hours, they had their first scare. It was Conti’s turn in the drink―and, suddenly, a giant tanker appeared in the horizon heading straight for the boat and, more importantly, for the swimmer. The pilot of the swim-boat was in constant communication with both the tanker and the Coast Guard to make sure that everything was safe, but the tanker just barely slipped past the Crusaders’ boat, roughly 200 yards in front of Conti. A former Navy man, Conti did not appear fazed by the encounter and kept swimming. When he finally got out of the water, the Crusaders saw land at last. They were on course to reach Cap Gris Nez. 

As Intermont began her third swim, the pilot of the boat told her, “If you swim as hard as you can, we can finish on your rotation.”  Nightfall had begun, however, and with the approach of darkness, the water became more and more choppy. Unfortunately it would take two more legs to finish the race. 

As Somma moved into the water to begin his third swim, all that he could see was a black cliff. With the strong current running through the Channel, the Crusaders went from three-quarters of a mile to 1.5 miles out and away from the beach. It was at this point that the group began to realize why only 75 percent of all attempts succeed. 

“While we were in England, I had heard that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have successfully swum the English Channel,” Toner says.  “Once it started to get dark, I could see why. As I jumped into the water for my third swim, the pilot told me, ‘If you start coming upon rocks, you are on your own. I cannot take the boat in there.’”

As Toner entered the water and began to swim, he drifted closer and closer to the rocks. Finally, he started to feel some water pressure on his back and realized that this was waves rolling into shore. Working his way to the beach and stumbling woozily, he waved his glow stick at the boat to mark the successful end of this adventure. The Crusaders finished the race in 14 hours, 30 minutes and 22 seconds. Seven boats ventured out to cross the Channel that day―the Holy Cross team was one of just four to complete its mission. 

“The most important elements of our success were our unity and our ties to Holy Cross,” says Bongiorno, a wound surgeon from Michigan. “Three of us swam together on the same team 40 years ago. As swimmers and as products of the Jesuits, we never give up. Three of the six overcame severe motion sickness; all six experienced post-Hurricane Charley channel chop. We all get to have this feeling of accomplishment for the rest of our lives―and not one of us could have done it without the other five. So, the debt of gratitude I owe to my teammates for not only great Channel swims, but also for the support we gave each other, is immeasurable.”

Somma echoes those sentiments: “It was a wonderful team effort in all respects. Each of us contributed in our own way, and each of us overcame one or another obstacle to make that contribution, and we simply could not have done it had that not been the case.”

The rough estimate of the actual distance that the alumni swimmers traveled was 30 miles―in water that hovered in the mid-60s. All six swimmers were from different parts of the country, but two things pulled them together to accomplish this feat―the desire to swim the English Channel and the spirit of being a Holy Cross Crusader. 

Lawrence Napolitano ’97 is a freelance writer from Shrewsbury, Mass.