Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving versus Boston College on October 18, 2025 at 1:00 PM
1:00 PM
Women's Swimming & Diving
vs Boston College
Swimming for a Cause
7/25/2025 3:52:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Hayden Barry, a Dartmouth Women's Swimming and Diving alumnae, just accomplished something that is bigger than swimming; she swam across Lake Saint Clair. Swimming across large bodies of water is not uncommon for highly advanced swimmers, the most notable being the English Channel, but to Barry's knowledge, this approximately five-mile swim had not been attempted in about 40 years. Barry swam across Lake Saint Clair starting in her hometown of Grosse Point, Michigan and ending in Windsor, Ontario.
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"My coaching staff and I are so proud of Hayden for taking on this open water challenge this summer. She shows how our sport can be a vehicle for so much more than just college athletics as she honors Ted Mullin. She has taken her involvement in the Hour of Power Relay for Sarcoma; an event our team does every fall to raise awareness for sarcoma research to another level with this swim. Open water crossings provide unique challenges such as navigation and a dynamic environment that will make it an exciting event and experience for Hayden, and the cause she is supporting makes it truly special. She is a hard worker and wonderful human so we know she will do great! We look forward to cheering her on!" said Head Coach Milana Socha.
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She attempted and completed the swim in honor of Ted Mullin, a Carlton College swimmer who tragically passed away of sarcoma in 2006. The honor is not unfamiliar to the Dartmouth swimming and diving teams as they are one of hundreds of teams across the country who participate in an event called "The Hour of Power". The event is a collective effort to come together as a team, both swimmers and divers, and swim as hard as you can for one full hour. Teams from all over the country participate at the same time as a way to truly come together as one and honor those who are actively fighting cancer or those who have lost their battle to cancer. Â
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"Huge congratulations to Hayden for completing her open water crossing! The coaching staff as a group is very proud of her and know that this is just the first of many exciting things that we will continue to hear about Hayden doing in life beyond collegiate swimming!" said Socha on behalf of the Dartmouth Swimming and Diving coaches.
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Hear from Hayden:
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How and when did you decide you wanted to attempt this swim?
"About two years ago, I was at the beach on Lake Ontario in Canada, and there was a plaque on a rock that detailed all of the Canadians who had swam across any of the Great Lakes into Canada. I saw it and thought "I live a mile from a lake that borders Canada, I can totally do that!" So that's when I first decided I wanted to attempt it but wanted to wait until I was finished with college swimming. Then, because we had done the Hour of Power in honor of Ted Mullin during practice for a few years, I thought it would be nice to incorporate that and do my swim to support the cause."
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How did you feel leading up to and on the day of the swim?
"Leading up to the swim I felt completely confident that I would finish but was most scared of seeing a really big fish or a car on the bottom of the lake. During prohibition, there was a group who would drive across the lake when it was frozen to get contraband from Canada, but cars would fall in sometimes and so there's thought to be 50-100 cars on the bottom of the lake. I was terrified of that and totally would have flipped out if I saw one."
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What was the hardest challenge during the swim? Both mentally and physically?
"The hardest part was the current right at the end. The first few miles were great and then about a mile out from the Canadian shoreline the current turned really bad, and the last mile took me twice as long as any of the ones prior. I had a waterproof iPod shuffle so I could listen to music, but it died right before I hit the current, so I was both bored and feeling like I was making no progress at all. I kept swimming for a bit, then would look up and felt like I didn't move at all. I would yell to my parents who were on the support boat that "I'm literally not moving!" and they would assure me I was. But it did not feel like it."
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How did you feel after the swim was over?
"After the swim, I felt so so happy. At the beach where I landed, there were Canadian flags, and it made it real that I had just swam from one country to another. I don't know of anyone in the past 40ish years who has done the same crossing, so it felt very special. Growing up so close to Canada, it never felt special to be in one country versus another until I put in the effort to physically travel the border myself. I had to swim back to the boat maybe 50 meters and had a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon waiting for me which was amazing. By the time I got back home, it was only 11:30am and I slept basically until dinner!"
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"My coaching staff and I are so proud of Hayden for taking on this open water challenge this summer. She shows how our sport can be a vehicle for so much more than just college athletics as she honors Ted Mullin. She has taken her involvement in the Hour of Power Relay for Sarcoma; an event our team does every fall to raise awareness for sarcoma research to another level with this swim. Open water crossings provide unique challenges such as navigation and a dynamic environment that will make it an exciting event and experience for Hayden, and the cause she is supporting makes it truly special. She is a hard worker and wonderful human so we know she will do great! We look forward to cheering her on!" said Head Coach Milana Socha.
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She attempted and completed the swim in honor of Ted Mullin, a Carlton College swimmer who tragically passed away of sarcoma in 2006. The honor is not unfamiliar to the Dartmouth swimming and diving teams as they are one of hundreds of teams across the country who participate in an event called "The Hour of Power". The event is a collective effort to come together as a team, both swimmers and divers, and swim as hard as you can for one full hour. Teams from all over the country participate at the same time as a way to truly come together as one and honor those who are actively fighting cancer or those who have lost their battle to cancer. Â
Â
"Huge congratulations to Hayden for completing her open water crossing! The coaching staff as a group is very proud of her and know that this is just the first of many exciting things that we will continue to hear about Hayden doing in life beyond collegiate swimming!" said Socha on behalf of the Dartmouth Swimming and Diving coaches.
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Hear from Hayden:
Â
How and when did you decide you wanted to attempt this swim?
"About two years ago, I was at the beach on Lake Ontario in Canada, and there was a plaque on a rock that detailed all of the Canadians who had swam across any of the Great Lakes into Canada. I saw it and thought "I live a mile from a lake that borders Canada, I can totally do that!" So that's when I first decided I wanted to attempt it but wanted to wait until I was finished with college swimming. Then, because we had done the Hour of Power in honor of Ted Mullin during practice for a few years, I thought it would be nice to incorporate that and do my swim to support the cause."
Â
How did you feel leading up to and on the day of the swim?
"Leading up to the swim I felt completely confident that I would finish but was most scared of seeing a really big fish or a car on the bottom of the lake. During prohibition, there was a group who would drive across the lake when it was frozen to get contraband from Canada, but cars would fall in sometimes and so there's thought to be 50-100 cars on the bottom of the lake. I was terrified of that and totally would have flipped out if I saw one."
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What was the hardest challenge during the swim? Both mentally and physically?
"The hardest part was the current right at the end. The first few miles were great and then about a mile out from the Canadian shoreline the current turned really bad, and the last mile took me twice as long as any of the ones prior. I had a waterproof iPod shuffle so I could listen to music, but it died right before I hit the current, so I was both bored and feeling like I was making no progress at all. I kept swimming for a bit, then would look up and felt like I didn't move at all. I would yell to my parents who were on the support boat that "I'm literally not moving!" and they would assure me I was. But it did not feel like it."
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How did you feel after the swim was over?
"After the swim, I felt so so happy. At the beach where I landed, there were Canadian flags, and it made it real that I had just swam from one country to another. I don't know of anyone in the past 40ish years who has done the same crossing, so it felt very special. Growing up so close to Canada, it never felt special to be in one country versus another until I put in the effort to physically travel the border myself. I had to swim back to the boat maybe 50 meters and had a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon waiting for me which was amazing. By the time I got back home, it was only 11:30am and I slept basically until dinner!"
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Players Mentioned
Free/Fly
/ Women's Swimming & DivingHighlights: Dartmouth Plays of the Week, Feb. 20, 2023
Monday, February 20
Interview: Coach Conversation with Milana Socha, Nov. 16, 2022
Tuesday, November 15
Interview: Coaches Confidential: Jesse Moore, June 22, 2021
Monday, June 28
Feature: Sophie Smith on her experience with The 50, Jan. 29, 2019
Tuesday, January 29
