Courtesy of Diego López Dominguez, Hudson River, New York.

The longest week in open water swimming – the 120-mile 7-day 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim – is coming down to two brothers competing for first place: 38-year-old older brother Joe Zemaitis versus his 35-year-old younger brother John Zemaitis.

On the final Stage 7 from George Washington Bridge to the finish at Verrazano Narrows Bridge, older brother Joe will try to hang onto his 37-minute lead over the final 18.1-mile (29.1 km) stage to capture the 8 Bridge title and become the 16th person in history to swim all 7 days of the 193 km event.

It is a week for excess.

In the lead-up to his English Channel attempt in two weeks, Spaniard Diego López Dominguez put together quite a training and travel schedule.

He completed the 57.9 km END-WET river swim finishing in Minnesota, and then traveled back to New York where he won the 31.8 km Beast [stage 5 of the 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim] between a number of tough pool workouts.

“The END-WET was a very long race indeed, but we had great conditions in a very narrow and peaceful river,” explained López. “On the other hand, 8 Bridges was very tough yesterday. I only did Stage 5 (aka The Beast). The Hudson showed us all its strength with chop, rain and unpredictable currents. I finished the course in 8 hours 42 minutes [see results below].

That makes over 100,000 meters in a week including some pool training, so it is a good mileage before my English Channel attempt in two weeks.”

And tomorrow will be the final day of the 8 Bridges event.

8 Bridges Hudson River Swim – Stage 1 Results
18.3 miles from Rip Van Winkle Bridge to Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge on June 19th
1 Joe Zemaitis (38) 5:00:55
2 Katrin Walter (40) 5:04:22
3 John Zemaitis (35) 5:14:35
4 Greg O’Connor (50) 5:18:21
5 Edward Riley (60) 5:27:47
6 Devon Clifford (28) 5:28:41
7 Steven Minaglia (45) 5:28:41
8 Janice Burton (54) 5:31:30
9 Jonah Meyer (49) 5:34:15
10 Bridgette Hobart (56) 5:38:40
11 Jeannie Zappe (53) 5:50:59
12 Patrick McDermot (53) 5:54:55

8 Bridges Hudson River Swim – Stage 2 Results
19.8 miles from Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge to Mid-Hudson Bridge on June 20th
1 Stephen Rouch (38) 6:13:11
2 Rocio Mora (45) 6:18:20
3 Joe Zemaitis (38) 6:29:17 (cumulative time: 11:30:12)
4 John Zemaitis (35) 6:58:54 (cumulative time: 12:13:29)
5 Katrin Walter (40) 7:01:22 (cumulative time 12:05:44)
6 Diego Cantillo (32) 7:03:11
7 Joshua Gordon (23) 7:08:28
8 Devon Clifford (28) 7:12:21 (cumulative time: 12:41:02)
9 Steven Minaglia (45) 7:12:21 (cumulative time: 12:41:02)
10 Greg O’Connor (50) 7:20:00 (cumulative time: 12:38:21)
11 Steve Gruenwald (57) 7:56:22
Janice Burton (54) 8:33:00 (cumulative time: 14:04:30)
Patrick McDermot (53) DNF (cumulative time: 14:27:55)
Dongho Choi (53) DNF at 8:33
Eric Schall (57) DNF at 8:33
Mary Stabinsky (42) DNF at 8:33
Janine Serell (57) DNF at 4:55

8 Bridges Hudson River Swim – Stage 3 Results
13.2 miles from Mid-Hudson Bridge to Newburgh-Beacon Bridge on June 21st
1 Joe Zemaitis (38) 4:17:53 (cumulative time: 15:48:05)
2 John Zemaitis (35) 4:24:21 (cumulative time: 16:37:50)
3 Joshua Gordon (23) 4:26:02
4 Katrin Walter (40) 4:26:31 (cumulative time: 16:32:15)
5 Greg O’Connor (50) 4:30:00 (cumulative time: 17:08:21)
6 Devon Clifford (28) 4:33:24 (cumulative time: 17:14:26)
7 Lauren Byron (42) 4:36:43
8 Steven Minaglia (45) 4:38:27 (cumulative time: 17:19:29)
10 Jim Chiudioni (59) 4:43:33
11 Susan Kirk (58) 4:44:42
12 Thomas Hull (56) 4:45:13
13 Jeannie Zappe (53) 4:51:00
14 Janice Burton (54) 4:56:38 (cumulative time: 19:01:08*)
15 Carol-lynn Swol (49) 4:56:42
16 Patrick McDermot (53) 4:59:22 (cumulative time: 19:27:17*)
17 Andreas Kaubisch (54) 5:06:13
18 Diana Corbin (50) 5:06:50
19 Sharon Gunderson (43) 6:09:24

8 Bridges Hudson River Swim – Stage 4 Results
15.1 miles from Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to Bear Mountain Bridge on June 22nd
1 Joe Zemaitis (38) 4:43:47 (cumulative time: 20:31:52)
2 John Zemaitis (35) 4:52:33 (cumulative time: 21:30:23)
3 Katrin Walter (40) 5:01:03 (cumulative time: 21:33:18)
4 Joshua Gordon (23) 5:03:42
5 Greg O’Connor (50) 5:04:49 (cumulative time: 22:13:10)
6 Steve Gruenwald (57) 5:11:40
7 Devon Clifford (28) 5:15:31 (cumulative time: 22:29:57)
8 Steven Minaglia (45) 5:15:31 (cumulative time: 22:35:00)
9 Lauren Byron (42) 5:19:54
10 Andrew Wallace (43) 5:27:33
11 Janice Burton (54) 5:31:14 (cumulative time: 24:32:22*)
12 Jim Chiudioni (59) 5:31:52
13 Thomas Hull (56) 5:40:28
14 Carol-lynn Swol (49) 6:00:32
15 Patrick McDermot (53) 6:01:54 (cumulative time: 25:29:11*)
16 Anita Hartsock (45) 6:18:54
17 Diana Corbin (50) 6:29:48
Sharon Gunderson (43) DNF at 3:59:28
Jacqueline Broner (57) DNF at 6:11:44

8 Bridges Hudson River Swim – Stage 5 Results
19.8 miles from Bear Mountain Bridge to New Tappan Zee Bridge on June 24th
1 Diego López Dominguez (37) 8:42:44
2 John Zemaitis (35) 8:43:57 (cumulative time: 30:14:20)
3 Joe Zemaitis (38) 8:59:44 (cumulative time: 29:31:36)
4 Ed Stoner (45) 9:00:47
5 Abigail Fairman (41) 9:10:15
6 Katrin Walter (40) 9:14:20 (cumulative time: 30:47:38)
7 Lynn Ascione (51) 9:22:18
8 Greg O’Connor (50) 9:27:39 (cumulative time: 31:40:49)
9 Devon Clifford (28) 9:30:09 (cumulative time: 32:00:06)
10 Steven Minaglia (45) 9:30:09 (cumulative time: 32:05:09)
11 Jeremy Whelchel (35) 10:33:21
12 Janice Burton (54) 10:41:21 (cumulative time: 35:13:43*)
Martin Turecky (52) DNF at 9:54:12
Patrick McDermot (53) DNF at 9:45:20 (cumulative time: 35:14:31*)
Sandra Ford (42) DNF at 9:39:53
John Hughes (56) DNF at 8:05:00
Janine Serell (57) DNF at 8:05:00
Anael Astic (30) DNF at 7:03:00
Charles Nadel (19) DNF at 4:35:00
Mark Spratt (63) DNF at 4:35:00

8 Bridges Hudson River Swim – Stage 6 Results
18.6 miles from New Tappan Zee Bridge to George Washington Bridge on June 25th
1 Melissa Kerker (53) 3:39:20
2 John Zemaitis (35) 3:39:56 (cumulative time: 33:54:16)
3 Joe Zemaitis (38) 3:44:56 (cumulative time: 33:16:32)
4 Greg O’Connor (50) 3:48:19 (cumulative time: 35:29:08)
5 Katrin Walter (40) 3:49:16 (cumulative time: 34:36:54)
6 Dana Page (57) 3:52:17
7 Edward Riley (60) 3:54:30
8 Jonah Meyer (49) 3:56:27
9 Steven Minaglia (45) 3:56:42 (cumulative time: 36:01:51)
10 Devon Clifford (28) 3:56:42 (cumulative time: 35:56:48)
11 Sandra Ford (42) 4:00:00
12 Janice Burton (54) 4:00:36 (cumulative time: 39:14:19*)
13 Jscott Burton (48) 4:01:28
14 Jeremy Whelchel (35) 4:03:18
15 Bridget Barclay (59) 4:03:41
16 Patrick McDermot (53) 4:08:22 (cumulative time: 39:22:53*)
17 Sharon Gunderson (43) 4:36:28
18 Christopher Stephens (50) 4:46:00

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