Swimmers Start Eight-State Goal In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY — Ocean City will be the jumping off, or jumping in, point next Wednesday for a select group of beach enthusiasts called the Aquanuts, who are attempting to take a swim at a saltwater beach in each of eight states from Maryland to Maine between dawn and dusk.

Calling their proposed adventure Eight The Hard Way, the Aquanuts, all ocean swimmers in their 50s and 60s, will begin the trek just after sunrise in Ocean City next Wednesday morning. Their plan is to take an ocean swim in eight states including Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connnecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and ultimately Maine just before sunset.

The Eight The Hard Way builds on the group’s earlier adventures, including Dukes in a Day, the International, Seven in Eleven and the Quick Six. Organizer Ned Daly said the group will arrive in the resort area next Tuesday night in preparation for the challenge.

“The Aquanuts return in 2014,” he said. “We will pre-position the night of June 24 and set off at the crack of dawn,” he said. “We don’t think anyone has ever done this.”

A driver will transport the swimmers to their next destination after each leg of the mission is completed. The itinerary includes an ocean swim in north Ocean City just after sunrise on Wednesday at around 6 a.m., followed by a swim in Fenwick Island shortly thereafter at 6:15 a.m. The Aquanuts plan to depart Fenwick around 7:30 a.m. and arrive in Lewes by 8:15 a.m. where they will catch the ferry to Cape May, N.J.

The group plans to swim in Cape May around 10:45 a.m. and quickly depart for New York shortly thereafter. The next stop is an ocean swim in Rye, N.Y. at 2:30 p.m., after which the Aquanuts will depart for Sherwood, Conn. The swimmers plan to take a dip in Sherwood around 3:45 p.m., then get back on the road for the next leg of the trip to Salisbury, Mass.

The next leg is the longest in terms of road mileage. The Aquanuts will depart Sherwood, Conn. at around 4 p.m. and arrive in Salisbury, Mass. at 7 p.m., where they will take a quick dip at 7:05 p.m. The swimmers will then take a quick trip across the Massachusetts border into New Hampshire, where they will complete the second-to-last leg in Seabrook, N.H. at 7:10 p.m.

The swimmers plan to depart Seabrook, N.H. around 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday and make the final leg to York, Maine, arriving in York at about 8 p.m. The Aquanuts plan to take their last dip of the day at Short Sands Beach shortly before sundown around 8:30 p.m.