Swim 1000 Update: The End In Sight

It has been a few weeks since I posted an update on the progress of Dave Cornthwaite and his attempt to swim 1000 miles down the Missouri River. The journey began back in early August when Dave plunged into the water near Chamberlain, South Dakota with the plan of making his way down river to St. Louis. Now, nearly two months later, he is nearing the finish line at last.

Dave calls his little dip in the water Swim 1000 and it is part of his much larger Expedition 1000 project in which he is attempting to complete 25 separate journeys of 1000 miles or more without the use of motorized transportation. Of course, he's also doing it to raise funds for charity with a stated goal of earning £1,000,000 ($1.6 million) for his favorite causes. Currently those efforts are being aimed at the Coppafeel organization.

Since we last checked in with Dave, he and his support crew, who are following along in kayaks and on stand-up paddleboards, have been enjoying the hospitality of those that live in America's heartland while proceeding down the river. They've been blogging their journey as they go and it has been interesting to read the accounts of their day-to-day struggles. Today's entry is particularly interesting as it talks about what it takes to fuel a swimmer who is traveling 1000 miles along a river. In order to stay properly fueled, Dave is consuming more than 6000 calories per day, which seems like a lot of course, until you realize that he's spending around 10 hours each day in the water. That is a lot of energy burned!

Dave has now swum more than 800 miles and he's eying a finish in St. Louis on this coming Saturday. Keep an eye out on his website to find out where they plan to complete the journey and if you're in the neighborhood, head on by to say hello. In the meantime, checkout this great video from the early stages of the swim. It'll give you an idea of what it has been like for the past two months.