 |
|
| Lee Greer Transcribed and Submitted by Natasha Miles Columbus County, NC  |
|
State Port Pilot 30 October 1935 Whiteville Attorney Swims from Southport to Wilmington Lee Greer Was Unconscious When Pulled Out Of The Water At End Of Swim From Southport To Wilmington Has Swum Waccamaw Seventeen Times Thinks Nothing of Swimming Lake Waccamaw The Five-Mile Way, Having Accomplished Feat Some 17 Times In the cool of a late summer afternoon in 1933, an unconscious man was pulled out of the Cape Fear river at Wilmington. That is the climax to one of the most daring swim attempt ever witnessed in this state . . . the finish of a twenty-six mile crawl from Southport up the river to Wilmington. The swimmer was Lee Greer, young Whiteville attorney, who is well known in Southport. Twelve hours and 55 minutes are required to make the 26 mile distance between the New Hanover and Brunswick capitals, and he admitted that he used every stroke which he knew in making the swim, but for the most part employed the familiar trudgeon crawl. The successful feat came only after two unsuccessful attempts had been made to swim the distance, and came only after Mr Greer had been put through rigid training to prepare himself for the feat. He spent a month training for the feat. The first try came when a Wilmington newspaper offered a cup to the first person to accomplish this feat. He was unsuccessful in that attempt, and in his second try, but on the last, which he admitted he undertook more for his personal satisfaction, he was finally able to reach his goal. Mr Greer admitted that the feat was a great test of endurance, and that last two ? which he took in reaching the Dock Street wharf in Wilmington rendered him completely in an unconscious condition. He was fished out of the water and quickly revived. During the marathon swim, Mr Greer was fed at frequent intervals by persons in a boat following him. They peeled oranges and handed them to him while he treaded water and ? sandwiches and other food to him during his 12 hour grind. This is not the only swimming feat to the Whiteville man's record. He has swum Lake Waccamaw seventeen times the ? mile way, and the greatest speed he ever made on such a swim was the same year he swam from Wilmington to Southport when he swam the five miles in one hour and 55 minutes. He has received a great many medals for excellence in aquatic arts. |
|
 |
|