June 15, 2009

Duquesne University men's and women's swimming coach David Sheets participated in The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim on Sunday, June 14. Sheets finished 57th of nearly 600 swimmers to raise money for the March of Dimes.

The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim (GCBS) is one of America's premier open water swim challenges. The annual event consists of a 4.4 mile swim across Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. The race starts from the shores of Sandy Point State Park, which is about five miles northeast of Annapolis. The course extends eastward between the two spans of the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge (U.S. Highway 50) and finishes at a small sandy beach on Kent Island.

People in cars passing across the Bay Bridge blared their horns in a show of solidarity for the swimmers. Onlookers cheered loudly while helicopters roared overhead and boats guarded the bridge area for the swimmers in a race where there were more than 2,500 applications for the 600 slots.