When over a hundred swimmers and kayakers loaded up on the Bayshore Ferry to the Fire Island Lighthouse at dawn break on July 9, 2024, thoughts of determination, pride, community, and honor throttled through their minds. As the Ferry roared into the fog and disappeared quickly from the mainland, not competing in the beloved annual swim they were heading to wasn’t even an abstraction. For the first time in 97 years in this fashion, the Maggie Fischer Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim was ultimately canceled.
As they do every year, the swimmers and kayakers lined the beach in front of the Fire Island Lighthouse, awaiting the 7:30 a.m. beginning gunshot. However, all they were met with was fog, anticipation, and anxiousness. The delays continued rolling in every half-hour as the United States Coast Guard patrolled the water like a roadblock, waiting to give the okay. The visibility was less than a mile, as the lighthouse, which usually stands for brightness and guidance, looked like a smothered smoke stack of doubt.
Bob Fischer, the man who heads the swim’s committee and the father of Maggie Fischer, the swim’s honorary namesake, continued to hold on to hope. He made phone call after phone call and pleaded his case to let the race usher on. “Once we can see Sexton Island from here, we’re good to go,” Fischer explained. Fischer and his family prayed, hoping a break in the sky would cut the fog enough to reveal that island and get the swim started. However, it never came. After five half-hour delays, by 10 a.m., the Coast Guard Chief forced Fischer’s hand to call the swim.
At the end of the wait, cancellation became about more than the fog. The delay was long enough to cause a change in the tide and increased boat activity near the closed Fire Island Channel, which the Coast Guard Chief deemed too unsafe to let the swim happen. Bob Fischer challenged the notion of the changing tide, but it wasn’t enough to convince the chief.
“It’s good to see the Coast Guard really taking the swimmers’ safety into account; we have to always listen to the safety experts,” a disheartened Fischer said as he broke the news to the swimmers.
The Maggie Fischer swim committee tracks the tides and weather all year long to determine the best date to hold it. They were right on, as the water was like a sheet of glass and extremely clear. At the original start time, the tide was perfect as well. However, no one could have predicted the amount of fog that rolled in overnight.
“We can measure all the little numbers, but Mother Nature is going to do whatever she wants,” Fischer stated. The rain date was scheduled for the following morning, July 10, but the threat of thunderstorms and high winds squashed that. The committee ultimately decided to call it off completely this year.
Fischer’s family, who view the race as “the high point of the year,” according to Fischer last summer, were upset that it couldn’t happen this year. However, it seemed as though the participants were the most disappointed people on the beach. They were eager to enter the water and embark on the demanding 5.32-mile cross-bay swim they challenged themselves to. Multiple swimmers lined up and attempted to carry on independently, even though the official swim was canceled. The committee insisted they return to shore, warning that they could ruin it for the future.
Multiple families, like the Swartwout’s and Larson’s, had numerous family members set to compete.
“It is great to see stuff like that in the swim,” Fischer said.
Originating in 1927, the swim has been a Bay Shore staple every summer. Since its re-renaming in 1999 after the late Maggie Fischer of Bayshore and Fire Island, it has brought the community together. They all gather to honor and celebrate the life of Maggie, a top student, athlete, and kind person.
Fischer and his crew were adamant that the after-party celebration would still occur despite the swim not taking place. It is a small token of appreciation for those who helped raise money for donations to the Hospice Children and Family Bereavement Services.
With the page officially turned from 2024, preparation, training, and fundraising for the 2025 Maggie Fischer Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim begin now.
