Ohio River swimmer breaks at Cave-In-Rock
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Monday's day of rest for Mimi Hughes involved time to chat with the media and figuring out logistically how to swim 0.6 mile down river to make up for time lost Sunday.
Hughes refuses to not complete her 20 miles per day for six days goal even if it means cutting into her rest day.
She has been swimming the Women Across the World Ohio River Swim since May 22, starting in Pittsburgh, Pa. She stops at Cairo July 17.
"I do 20 miles a day. The only time I wouldn't do 20 miles a day is if I'm ahead of schedule," Hughes said.
Hughes takes a zen-like approach to the river and its potential hazards.
"The key is just I have to go with the flow, just relinquish it to the river and I'll be OK if there's a fishing boat coming or a bad storm coming. Is there lightning? Not yet. If there's lightning I want off the water," Hughes said.
In the first 100 miles into her Ohio River swim, Hughes swam through 10 miles of toxic water from chemical plants. She does not want to say where. She learned the water at that point actually contained four times what was allowable by federal regulations. However, the people of the town gave her overwhelming support, donating toward charities supporting education for women.
But the water cleared for the second 10 miles of the day and became more and more clear each day.
Sometimes Hughes swims past strange things, and occasionally feels strange sensations. She swam the Tennessee River, the Danube, the Drava and Mura rivers in Europe and from Alaska to Russia, but only on the Ohio River has she experienced encounters with fish.
"This is my first trip down when I believe I've felt fish that may have mistook my hand for something else. It's like a suction. It's weird," Hughes said.
Hughes has a personal relationship with the river, working with its currents and swimming against its headwinds.
The river connects regions and people and it is aiding Hughes' cause of bringing awareness to the issue of women and education in the world.
She tutors and teaches college literacy. She knows though in the United States we believe women have the same opportunities as men, there are women in this country who are failed.
She has tutored women who are dyslexic, single mothers, former drug users who may have to choose between working and pursuing an education.
She recites poetry and prayers as she swims. One of her favorite poems is by Sandra Hogue.
"'Today I swim, stroke by stroke and breath by breath,'" she said.
The poem uses imagery of the river, like the currents, breathing methods and the belief in success.
"I get to the 'can dos' and I think about women I know who've done great things despite their fears. And I think about the girl in Turkey who talked to boys and was buried alive," Hughes said.
The girl in Turkey helps her remember how lucky she is to have been born in the United States, have both a good family and job and ability to choose to do something as big and challenging as swimming a 981-mile river in 57 days.
She also thinks about the so-called marathon monks who run a marathon a day for a period of 100 days before then running two marathons a day in their quest for enlightenment.
Hughes is emphatic the Women Across the World Ohio River Swim is not Mimi Hughes' swim.
"It's the Ohio River Valley's swim," she said.
Hughes says the people she meets during her swim exhibit true American spirit, offering to help and to donate to her cause. People are inspired to learn she has no sponsor and she is not swimming for money. She saves up her money to spend on accommodations along the way.
"This is my vacation, as warped as it is," Hughes said.
"I'm dependent on the people on the river to give. Really, it's like the American spirit. People say, 'You can stay at my house.'
"They give me money for something to eat. They give me money to give to http://www.ikat.org. All along the river the American spirit is overwhelming."
Hughes believes sometimes people resist charities because they do not know how the money is being spent. Some charities may use only a portion of contribution for on-the-ground aid while paying vast salaries to administrators and other overhead costs. But she knows people are willing to help causes even if it means giving her money and asking her to put it to where it will help most.
"The American people may not know how to direct their energies sometimes, but I don't think they're apathetic," she said.
Hughes is scheduled to complete the swim July 17 in Cairo.
She encourages people to donate toward her cause of education of women at http://www.ikat.org and to read her Web site at http://www.WomenAcrosstheWorld.com for other ways to help.
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DeNeal receives e-mail at mailto:bdeneal@yourclearwave.com?subject=Ohio%20swim.</li>
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