Detroit man swims across Lake Erie in record time

NORTH EAST, Pa. (AP) — A Detroit man is the 11th person to complete the 24.3-mile swim across Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania shore near Erie.

Randy McElwain, 45, took just 11 hours, 23 minutes, and 33 seconds to swim from Long Point, Ontario, to Freeport Beach in North East Township. The next-fastest time was 11 hours, 53 minutes by an Erie-area man, Josh Heynes, in 2006.

McElwain graduated from Edinboro University, a state-owned school about 20 miles from where he ended his swim. He now works as a manager for General Motors Acceptance Corp. in Michigan.

McElwain started training in February by swimming 2.5 miles then adding distance as his training continued.