PROUD PAPA — MICHAEL “THE MARLIN” HODEL TAKES ON MANHATTAN

August 8, 2026
Birch Bay, Washington

A little personal bragging is in order today.

Just a few weeks after swimming the English Channel from England to France, my son Michael Hodel is back in the water—this time in New York, swimming the 20 Bridges open-water marathon around Manhattan Island.

I’ve been following him on the live tracker, and as I write this, Michael appears to be leading the field by a substantial margin. The tracker currently has him at roughly eight hours, with the next swimmer about an hour behind.

Quite a sight for a proud papa sitting 3,000 miles away watching those little colored lines move around Manhattan!

The 20 Bridges swim is a complete circumnavigation of Manhattan—roughly 28.5 miles, through the East River, Harlem River and Hudson River. Add that to an English Channel crossing just weeks earlier and, well…

Way to go, Michael!

Love you, son.

—Steve

Sat, Augist 18, 8:30 PST Update:

Mike still leads the pack and heading toward the finsih line.