Swimming from Pittsburgh to Illinois--- READ THIS

[underpants]

Mimi Hughes is swimming the Ohio River - not from shore to shore, but all the way down the Ohio from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Ill. And, if she stays on schedule, the 54-year-old mother of four from Taft, Tenn., will swim past the Marietta area sometime today.

"I do 20 miles a day, which took about 11 hours on Sunday because the current was not as strong as I had hoped," Hughes said on Monday. "But my goal is to be in Cairo by July 17."

She began her 981-mile marathon with a dive into the Ohio at Pittsburgh on May 22. Since then she spends at least eight hours six days a week in the water, wearing a wetsuit and goggles to protect her body and eyes from some potentially toxic effects from the river.

"I became frustrated with the issue of education for girls," she said. "I teach developmental courses at a college and have students who got married, became meth addicts, had children, then were divorced by their husbands. It's difficult for those women to get an education.

"People say the government could help, but that only creates a strain on our social systems, and these girls don't want that," Hughes added. "It's better to make sure they get a good education so they can earn a living and live productive lives."

http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/522283.html?nav=5002



Woman heads toward halfway mark of Ohio River swim
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-oh-ohioriverswim,0,434843.story

The 54-year-old community college reading specialist says she's swimming to raise money and awareness about the education of women and girls worldwide.