An American endurance athlete looking to set a world record for swimming across British Columbia's Okanagan Lake has completed his epic trek.
Adam Ellenstein, 39, was greeted by family and friends around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night in Penticton. Cheers erupted from the crowd as he made his way to shore.
“You made it, you made it!” people yelled as Ellenstein was embraced by loved ones, his eyes filling with tears.
“It’s all the crew, it’s all these guys, they made it easy for me,” said Ellenstein, noting that hugging his crew and eating some food were the first things he planned to do.
“As I was coming in it smelled like Chinese food - that sounds really good.”
He was escorted to an ambulance after the swim, but not before taking some selfies with youngsters gathered at the finish.
Ellenstein and his team have their fingers crossed that the 105-kilometre swim across the length of the lake – which took him just under 41 hours - will set a Guinness World Record for the speediest lengthwise swim of the lake.
“Adam is physically well, mentally engaged and amazed at the tremendous support from people across the globe,” read a statement on the swim’s Facebook page, VictorySwim105.
The swim was also a fundraiser for Parkinson’s disease, inspired by his aunt, Susan Scarlett, who was recently diagnosed. She joined him in the water for sections of the swim.
Ellenstein is no stranger to endurance feats: he has completed Ironman and UltraMan triathlons, and even swam 30 kilometres across Lake Winnipeg.
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