Decades later, revived Great South Bay swim still inspired by namesake

Reviving a decades-old swim across the Great South Bay attracted 10 participants for the initial 5.5 miles slog. That was in 1999, just days after Maggie Fischer, 17, and preparing for her first Cross Bay Swim, was killed in a car crash. 

On Thursday, the organizer of that swim, Bob Fischer, Maggie's dad, was back at it, running this year's now-annual fundraiser, named for his daughter.

This year's Maggie Fischer Memorial Cross Bay Swim swelled to 113 swimmers, Fischer said. With so many swimmers taking part in the fundraiser, he said, organizers had to eventually close registration.

“There was something about the event that just had legs,” said Fischer. “It has grown to the point where we have to limit the number of swimmers.”

The event is not officially sanctioned by any sporting organization, but it is timed and swimmers take it seriously, Fischer said. Still, he says, call it a swim, not a race.

“It's more of like a cultural event than just a sporting event,” he said.

The swim typically raises about $100,000 per year, Fischer said. The majority of the money goes toward the Hospice Care Network Children's Bereavement Fund and the Maggie Fischer Scholarship Fund, he said.

Billy Swartwout, 19, of Amityville and Mary McKenna, 17, of Seaford, placed first and second, respectively, in the swim. Their times were not immediately available.

Each swimmer is accompanied by a kayaker to keep them on course and provide snacks and water to keep them hydrated. Swartwout, who placed third the previous year and is on the Princeton University swimming and diving team, had his older sister Erica paddle along.

Overall, it was a good day for a dip in the water, he said.

“It was pretty calm for the majority of it, but in the middle, around mile three or four, it felt a little bit choppy,” he said. “Toward the last mile I felt the current carry me a lot."

Swartwout, who said he practices about two to three hours per day, said he shaved about 10 minutes off his time from the previous year.

McKenna said calm water conditions led to her beating her last year’s time as well. That favorable current direction helped her, too.

“It’s just a challenging race … on the unexpectedness of the open water,” she said. “So it's a great feeling to finish."

With J. Conrad Williams Jr.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.