Lake George spans 32 miles — from the village all the way up to Diane's Rock in Ticonderoga.
Vacationers and locals flood to this Adirondack gem each summer, taking a dip at one of its many swim spots, but few have even attempted what Bridget Simpson just completed.
"It took me 28 hours and 6 minutes, and yes, I'm claiming those last six minutes," said Simpson.
The Ticonderoga woman is now the 11th person to make the nonstop swim from one end of the lake to the other, and at age 49, she's also the oldest.
"As much as it was a struggle, I really never had any doubt that we were just going to keep going until we got to Diane's Rock and I was able to climb out,” said Simpson.
Bridget's feet left the docks in Lake George Village at 9 p.m. on the evening of August 8, and they didn't touch ground again until 1 a.m. August 11.
"Time shifts in an interesting way. I don't have a great sense of how much time passes or how far I've gone. Literally at any point in that swim you could have told me I had gone five hours or ten hours and I could not have argued," said Simpson.
Simpson did have a trustworthy team of about a dozen people keeping her on track though. Kayaking alongside her, they supplied her with food, water and motivation.
"It would be a case of me swimming along, deciding it was time to get something into my system and essentially taking enough of a break in my stroke to say, 'liquid food,' or 'sandwich' or something," Simpson said.
Simpson’s love for open water marathon swimming started nearly two decades ago.
"I do like to swim for a long, long, long, long time. As I gained mileage over the past few years, I frequently felt like I could have gone further,” said Simpson.
Now she's hoping this accomplishment will encourage others to achieve their own goals.