When we first met Melodee Liegl, she was just dipping in for the summer season. Today, she's one of only ten athletes to swim and complete the St. Lucia Channel.
"I signed up for this swim at the end of last year. It's fairly new. In 2019 it started off as one of the big swims," says marathon swimmer Liegl.
Looking to challenge herself, Liegel traded the lakes of Wisconsin for the Caribbean Sea.
"The swells were three to three and a half feet for most of the swim, which she told me in the beginning that the first three or four hours would be the hardest and I think I thought after that it would get pretty flat and it never did," says Liegl.
A veteran marathon swimmer, the 21-plus mile trek wasn't at the top of Liegel's concerns. But, mother nature did try and knock her off course, making it one of her more difficult swims.
"They started the fog horn to let me go, and at that time I was like okay I got this. It's a little bit dark still, and I started swimming. But soon after I started there was a lightning storm," says Liegl.
Forced to briefly exit the water, once the storm passed, Liegel happily abandoned the ship.
"Some people might think it's an advantage to rest, but it's not. You're thinking about the swim and then you just have to sit there," says Liegl.
However, there were some shocks that Liegl could not avoid.
"Yeah like a man o'war, there was one big one and I had a welp on my arm. There are these things called noseeums and they kinda like to sting you in the water and I could feel those too," says Liegl.
Riding the wave of determination, Melodee eventually reached land.
"The swim itself took me 13 hours and 14 minutes," says Liegl. "That was all Monday, September 26. I started at 5:30, I had to get out for the lightning, and then I landed around 8 on the beach in Martinique."
Ending the year with a huge win, during the winter, Liegl will have to settle for laps inside.
"This is kinda the reality. I'm going to be back in the pool for a few months until it gets nice again. I get about five months of outdoor swimming. For Wisconsin, I don't think it's that bad," says Liegl.
Whether it's a small pool or an ocean, Liegl never sinks, she only swims.
