Ned Hastings got into open water swimming quite late in life, but he's quickly ascended to legendary status in the marathon swimming community after a mind fogging 14-hour and 24-minute swim that covered ALL 23 miles of Upper Priest Lake and Priest Lake in Idaho.

COURTESY Keith Currie
COURTESY Keith Currie
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According to a database of distance swims maintained by the Marathon Swimmers Federation, the 54-year old Hastings is the first person to do this.

He swam the entire way without touching the ground or resting on any flotation device.

A support boat accompanied him, but could not help him. The boat maintained a flag to let everyone around know there was a swimmer in the water and they were allowed to feed him by tying various forms of nourishment to a string and tossing it to him.

Hastings swam competitively earlier in life but it wasn't until 2016 that he started reluctantly training in the Columbia River with a friend who was preparing for an open water swim in Hawaii.

Hastings, recently divorced at the time and in the process of a career change, quickly adapted to the meditative qualities and full body workouts of open water swimming. And since he can't stand chlorine, pools were not an option, so he just kept stroking outside eventually building to that zen place that allows a person to ultimately challenge themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Cheers to you, Mr. Hastings.

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