Woman with Down Syndrome finishes a swim across Lake Tahoe!

[lgvmd]

After that she pooped her pants

[jb55101]

say can i have her on my special olymp[ics swim team hehe? i know get gold medal then

[Happy2beemi]

impressive. very impressive, actually.

[kosmosleha]

do you think it is possible to swim acrass a cold, 12 km lake? I am planning to do so, but I have to really work on my swimming for the next year.

[vaughnellermanow]

"Batman" features to date. Enjoy this movie @ Movie Watcher [.] US

[MOSESCAT69]

what a girl!!!! Tremendous achievement. I have just signed up for a mile swim in september, Karen will be my inspiration x

[wassupno3]

hey guys are you nuts what that woman did was amazing alcatraz was a prison on and island many people tryd what she did and all failed but 3 people made it this is great what she did

[samdamien]

Wooow what a inspiration for people with ds

[emokiddies1]

wtf who gives a flying shit about this or her

[themonkkk]

She came to the school and she is a nice person although she has some speech problems

[PianistCor]

This made me cry! God bless her!

[hellohandgunxx]

i started laughing when they put the flowers around her

[aqrockdude]

South Lake Tahoe, Ca. On Tuesday Sept. 25th 2007, Karen Gaffney, a 29 year old avid swimmer known worldwide for being the first person with Down syndrome to complete a relay swim across the English Channel, completed her latest swim challenge. To raise funds for the National Down Syndrome Congress, Karen swam a little over 9 miles across the width of Lake Tahoe.

The swim began at 6:07AM from Deadman's Point on Lake Tahoe's east shore.

[HannahsmomUK]

I have also had the pleasure of meeting Karen Gaffney and she is one remarkable woman, also swimming the English Channel in a relay team too

Also considering that she has got a problem with her hip ( which she had when she had from birth )which is probably more noticable when she exits the water, this is even more of a feat that she has come

She is truly inspirational & a great advocate for people with Down's syndrome who I aspire that my daughter who also has DS will be like when she grows up

[totaljudy]

She's doing it with a wetsuit. That makes a huge difference in terms of temperature.

[Feylynne]

Actually, you can't stay in water at that temperature for the 6 hours it took to swim Tahoe without a wetsuit on. Ken Harmon, who is an Ironman athlete only managed to stay in the water with Karen for 2 hours on the day of the swim and then he get back in the boat. Not to mention, your face, hands feet, etc. are exposed the whole time! Way to go Karen, you're my hero!

[totaljudy]

If it's not possible how do you explain people who cross the english channel? For a channel crossing to count you are only allowed to wear one bathing suit and a silicone or rubber cap. The average temperature of the chanel in the sumer is 60 degrees so it is similar to lake tahoe.Look I'm not trying to take away from what she did. Nine miles anywhere is formidable.

[arpeters1983]

That's amazing. That water is freezing not to mention it's 9 MILES!! lol Truly amazing. She should be very proud of herself :-D

[Emgrasss]

Congratualtions. I wanted to cry when I watched this. Awesome :)

[kickflipkrazy18]

Awsome Job!!!

[StephenGreen1965]

2008 We had the pleasure of meeting up with Karen in England when she kindly came over to address a DS association meeting. She is one amazing young lady and a great ambassador for America and people with Downs. Grenville Green proud father of a 43 year old son with Downs syndrome.

[heymilu]

Great work. Amazing Job in that cold water. Keep up the work!

[Chapas45]

This would have been more inspiring had she swam solo (not accompanied by the boats or the two Ironman swimmers).

[ValerieValirah]

I don't see how that makes it any less of a feat? She still swam the distance. The boats were most likely for safety- to keep her from getting run over by other boats and just in case something bad were to happen. And a hard rule of open water swimming is that you always swim with a buddy. So what if she had two, lol. Wahoo! Congrats on the feat Karen.

[Loki431]

Why don't you do it by yourself and then get back to us on that, okay?

I couldn't make that swim nor could anyone I know.

[Chapas45]

I'm not a woman, nor do I have DS, so I could probably make the swim in shorter time.

[matthandsome1011]

But you are an idiot. I bet if you had wings you could fly higher also!

[matthandsome1011]

stuck up a** hole

[Chapas45]

grow up, douche-bag.

[ericandamanda338]

Wow, 6.5 hours in that frigid water. Amazing

[ewilson238]

We had the honor of listening to her speak at the ndsc conference in KC this past year, and i couldn't even film it, as we were so in tears. She is an amazing advocate for all of us...not just the kids with DS, that she dedicates herself to.

Thank you karen! Thanks mom and dad!

WE LOVE YOU!

e & molly kate

west plains, missouri

[johnfinbarburke]

eeeh why ,, in gods name ..

[eatmyplum]

shoulda drowned

[vargovic]

cool on my birthday

[hyhradio1]

Karen is a very inspirational woman who I admire greatly! Keep up the excellent work Karen!  Blessings!

[smurfnm156]

There's information about her foundation in the notes. She's pretty amazing--she graduated from a prestigious prep school in Oregon with honors and also has an AA degree. If one chooses to have a child with DS read Karen's website--her parents are to be commended for never giving up. Karen, you rock!

[laurielouwho]

Oh my goodness Karen. Well done. Someone from a DS support group posted a comment about your achievements. I watched some news clips. then I searched for you on youtube. I love your video. It has brought tears to my eyes. I am a mom of a 5 year old with DS. You are ammmmmmazing.

[beba45]

Wow. This is amazing. Congras to Karen.

[RACHELHILDAREED78]

fantastic! i am a distance swimmer myself and it is so good to see such inspirational videos!

[swimfan2727]

This is an amazing story, where can I go to get more information on Karen's cause? Donations etc?