DETROIT – Nick and Colleen Anthony have spent summers at the pool, been on swim teams and even played underwater hockey in college. They have grown up swimming. Nick starting at age 9 and Colleen at age 6.
"Swimming has just been a really large part of my life ever since I was little," Nick Anthony said.
When their aunt, Sara Marley, suggested they swim the English Channel with her in a relay, they jokingly agreed. She took them seriously.
"It's just kind of a challenge. Our aunt has done it before and proposed it to us. I was kind of joking when I said, 'Yeah, that would be fun,' to her and, before I knew it, we were kind of signed up for it and, while we're swimming, we're going to be supporting Detroit Swims," Colleen Anthony said.
Detroit Swims, a nonprofit that runs out of the Boll Family YMCA, provides free swim lessons for children in Detroit. Colleen Anthony has been a swim coach in the metro Detroit area for nearly 10 years and learned about Detroit Swims through different clubs and coaches.
"I don't think it's something that people think about, but there is 7 out of 10 kids in Detroit that don't know how to swim," she said. "The problem is that they either don't have the finances or the access to pools in order to do that. So I just think it's something that people aren't really very aware of, so we're hoping to kind of raise awareness of that."
The Anthonys set up a CrowdRise to fundraise for Detroit Swims. On it, they said, "While we swim in the cold, wavy waters of the English Channel, we hope to remind everyone to be thankful that they know how to swim, and help provide resources to teach those that do not."
All the money they raise will go directly to Detroit Swims.
"I think it's a life skill that everyone should know how to do, especially in Michigan. We have so many lakes around here," Nick Anthony said.
Colleen Anthony began open water swimming after high school. She did a couple of triathlons, swam in the British Virgin Islands and did a few 5K lake swims.
Marley has done the triple crown of open water swimming, having swum around Manhattan island, across the Catalina Channel off the coast of California and across the English Channel from England to France.
"She is our inspiration for doing this, you know. She's done the relay and the solo. So, just to kind of get out there and try a few things that she's done and, especially, stuff that's in our wheelhouse, swimming and stuff like that, it's really exciting," Nick Anthony said.
Both Colleen and Nick Anthony had concerns about swimming in the ocean, including critters and the cold water, but they have been training since January and took advice from their aunt.
They swam Sunday, when the water was around a chilly 64 degrees. The English Channel is about 21 miles but is often a little farther for swimmers, who can veer off in one direction or another in the wavy conditions.
"The Channel Swimming Association is the organization that puts all these on, and they have some rules," Colleen Anthony said. "You're not allowed to wear a wetsuit. It's kind of part of the challenge. So just regular swimsuits, a cap, goggles and they do have a balm you can put on your skin to kind of insulate, but it's really just kind of the bare bones necessities of swimming."
"You literally just swim until your hour is up and then you have to crawl out on the boat yourself. No one can help pull you or anything like that, so it's completely unassisted," Nick Anthony said.
The Anthonys encountered jellyfish on their swim.
It took them 13 hours and 36 minutes to swim from Dover, England, to Le Petit Blanc Nez, France.
Nick Anthony was grateful for the opportunity to take on this challenge with his sister.
"It's awesome. I couldn't imagine going and doing this by myself, but going and doing it with my family, especially with Colleen, who, we've been really close our whole lives. It's just another adventure we get to go off on together," he said.
If you would like to donate to the Anthonys' CrowdRise campaign, click here.