BOUNTIFUL LAKE, Utah -- A group of Utah swimmers met at Bountiful Lake Wednesday to take a swim. The water is very murky compared to other lakes in the state, and that's just the way they wanted it.
Two Utah open swimmers are preparing to swim in some of the world's dirtiest water around Manhattan Island.
Gordon Gridley is swimming in the Great Salt Lake this weekend and then heads off to New York City next weekend for his finish of the Triple Crown.
"It feels like sandpaper all over your body. Depending on how long you are in the water, you can chafe and start to bleed," Gridley said about the Great Salt Lake.
Gridley and one other Utah open swimmer are looking to make history by claiming a Triple Crown title. Gridley said that's what it feels like to swim in the Great Salt Lake.
"It's three races that make up the Triple Crown, so there is the English Channel, there is the Catalina Channel and the Manhattan swim," Joelle Beard said.
All three races add up to 70 miles of open water swimming in some of the world's coldest, roughest, and dirtiest water.
"The water is definitely one of my biggest concerns; I've heard horror stories of the water," Beard said about swimming around Manhattan Island.
"I've taken all my shots, so I just hope for the best and hope that I don't get too sick and swim as hard as I can," Gridley joked.
When they finish the 29-mile race in Manhattan, Gridley and Beard will be the first Utahn's to complete the Triple Crown.
"Between 70 and 80 people in the world have done it," Beard said.
"It's a good thing to kind of pioneer the sport, in that sense, but it's taken off so fast, it's exponential the amount of people who are getting into it. It's just gonna grow from here," Gridley said about the progression of the sport.
If you want to know how their races go, head over to Gridley's website or Beard's blog
