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Trial by water
Solo swimathon helps cancer effort

By Hope Green

On tame summer nights, a clear Maine sky sheds pale light over a 1,266-square-mile lake rimmed by mountains and dark, still, conifer-spiked coves. A trace of wind might set off ripples that nudge small boats tethered near shore, but otherwise, the water is calm.

	Daniel DeLuca (ENG'87, SED'95) is seeking sponsors for his 32-mile swim across Moosehead Lake to benefit breast cancer research. Photo by Herb Swanson, Portland Press Herald

Such idyllic conditions are just what Daniel DeLuca is hoping for this August, when he at-tempts to become the first person to swim Moosehead Lake’s 32 longitudinal miles at one stretch.

Last time he tried, he might as well have been swimming the English Channel.          

“The main thing going through my mind was, when is this wind going to die down?” he recalls of the murky, cloud-covered night of July 31, 1999, and the next morning, when 20-m.p.h. headwinds and 5-foot swells forced him to quit less than midway across.

This time DeLuca (ENG’87, SED’95), principal of the Baxter School for the Deaf in Falmouth, Maine, expects to fare better. If fate is kind, he’ll get a quarter moon and stars overhead, perhaps even a light breeze at his back.

Yet his motivation goes deeper than personal glory: DeLuca is swimming to raise money for breast cancer research. Last year he and his brother, Daryl, BU’s director of judicial affairs, collected more than $12,000 in sponsorships on behalf of the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition after their 78-year-old mother, Dina, was diagnosed with the disease.  She has since recovered after undergoing surgery, radiation treatments, and chemotherapy, and although she suffered a stroke in the process, she no longer requires a walker or cane.

“She was very moved that her youngest of five children decided to do this event,” says Daryl.

Endurance partners

Both brothers, born 11 years apart in Quincy, Mass., are veterans of athletic endurance contests: they used to run marathons together. Although Daryl has continued to race on land, Daniel switched to water competitions a decade ago. He has participated in increasingly longer events, including a 10-miler across Boston Harbor in 1994 and the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in 1996.

Daryl DeLuca is part of the swimathon support team.

But ever since moving to southern Maine five years ago Daniel DeLuca has hankered to try Moosehead, the largest freshwater lake completely inside New England. Last August he finally made a go of it after securing approval from United States Masters Swimming (USMS), the official governing body for the sport, and assembling a crew of helpers to monitor his progress from a support boat.

The group was fortunate: a certified Maine wilderness guide agreed to captain a pontoon for them free of charge. Daryl and BU schoolmate Michael Kohn (CGS’86) were on hand to assist in serving Gatorade and high-energy snacks on a tray, as USMS swimathon rules prohibit touching or holding onto the boat for even a moment.

Also on board were a physician and a local scientist, who used a remote-sensing device to keep the swimmer on course.

The route began at the township of Seboomook, at the northern tip of the lake, and was to conclude at Greenville, to the south. Anticipating the feat would take at least 18 hours and wanting to finish in daylight, Daniel dove in at 5 p.m.

“The waters were somewhat rough when we started, but we had heard that most lakes in New England become tranquil at sunset,” Daryl says. “That tranquility never happened. It was more like the North Atlantic.”

Headwinds fanned boat exhaust at Daniel’s face, and whitecaps forced water into his mouth. He started at his training pace of 2 miles per hour, but by the time he passed Mount Kineo, 12 miles out, the waves had slowed him considerably.

It was apparent that the adventure would become an ordeal lasting well beyond 24 hours. “We had the idea of reaching Green-ville much more quickly than that,” Daniel says, “and though I felt fine, we decided as a group that it would be unreasonable and unsafe for me to continue.”

He boarded the pontoon at dawn, after 14 choppy miles.

Back in training

This year the group is better prepared. Swimmer and crew have agreed to be on call for up to five successive nights, August 3 to 7, to wait for optimal weather. Another improvement will be a light-emitting diode on Daniel’s bathing cap to make him visible against the water, eliminating his having to swim toward a blinding spotlight.

Until then Daniel will spend most mornings training at a YMCA pool, while Daryl helps solicit pledges for the fundraiser. Along with hundreds of checks, last summer’s appeal drew piles of cards and letters describing personal experiences with breast cancer.

“People poured out their souls to me and my family to let Dan know what a wonderful thing he was doing for such a great cause,” Daryl says.

“It really hits home for a lot of people,” agrees Daniel. “The stories I’ve heard, as well as my mother’s situation, really give me the drive and energy that can help me make it to Greenville this year.”

To make a donation or pledge, contact Carol Beagan at (207) 947-9074 or write: Moosehead Lake Marathon Swim, Maine Breast Cancer Coalition, c/o Carol Beagan, 21 Pine Street, Old Town, ME 04468.

14 July 2000
Boston University
Office of University Relations