1st Team Challenge In 25 Years

Crossed Otsego Lake On Weekend

By PAUL DONNELLY • allotsego.com

 COOPERSTOWN – It is the 1st time in perhaps a quarter century, an organized swimming team has swum Otsego Lake’s nine-mile length, from Springfield to Council Rock.

Swimmers and staff support individuals from the University Club of Boston traveled here for this occasion. Months of training and work went into planning for this trip. A crew of six local residents helped to support the seven swimmers.

Coach David Dornaus, a seasoned triathlon athlete as well as masters swim coach finished the race coming in “first” with a time of less than four hours. The weather conditions were excellent. All of the entrants finished the course.

D.J. Jayes who has done numerous long distance swims completed it in just over six hours. As the elder swimmer, being 61 years old, he gave the folks Council Rock a hearty “thumbs-up” greeting coming out of the water. “Onward to 2015,” he shouted to his other teammates.

Why come to Cooperstown? Well several members have a Cooperstown connection. Kirkland Wood’s wife happens to be a native of the village. Formerly, she was Glynis Gogizian who graduated from Cooperstown Central High School.

Coach Dornaus is a graduate of University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he was on the swim team and he happens to know local Olympian athlete Sarah Groff from his years of participating on the national Triathlon circuit. By the way, she and her sister Lauren have also swam the entire lake in recent years.

Well is a return visit in the cards?  …perhaps “yes” or “no”. One member said: “could you imagine swimming here in late September, it’s just beautiful!”.