It was heart-breaking. Nature took its course and pushed Walter Scott off of his intended one.

20 hours 47 minutes after starting on Santa Barbara Island and despite making significant progress to the California mainland, Walter Scott hit some bad currents and appeared to be swimming parallel to his goal as he approached the California shoreline.

“He was exhausted,” reports Jane Cairns, the Observer of Scott’s valiant effort. “He was not making forward progress for a while.”

File photo of Walter Scott.

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