Mo. man swims 20 miles in 20 hours for charity

CAMDENTON, Mo. -- He can't even crawl out of bed. He has to slide. At this point Trevor Dowdney is in pain, able to move his legs but can barely lift his hands to shave.

It's been two days since Dowdney completed his 20-mile swim down the main channel of Lake of the Ozarks, and while he is exhausted, he's too uncomfortable to sleep.

The Osage Beach, Mo., resident had been preparing for the one-man charity swim for months.

Dowdney jumped in the lake around 5 a.m. What kept him going were the thousands of dollars in pledges made for the St. Louis Shriners Hospital.

"At mile 10, the only thing that motivated me was that I was doing it for the kids," Dowdney said. "It was a case of, 'Hey, suck it up.' I'm going to be in pain for a few days, but these kids are in pain for most of their life."

Dowdney decided to make the early October swim on his son Aidan's birthday. Diagnosed with congenital hip dysplasia when he was 18 months old, Aidan has made frequent visits to the Shriners Hospital. As a way to pay them back, Dowdney called for donations and set out to complete 20 miles in 20 hours.

Dowdney was accompanied by three kayaks and a boat whose crew helped cheer him on and keep him safe.

Despite the help of the vessels, swimming in the dark caused him to zigzag adding a few extra yards along the course. Once the sun came up, the winds kicked in and churned up the water for the next eight hours.

"My shoulders shut down at about the eight-mile marker," he said. "Toward the end, every stroke felt like somebody was tugging at them to prevent them from working."

After stopping for a short break about halfway through, Dowdney said he sent the crew out to look for smoother water.

They found it across the lake.

As he approached the dam, Dowdney said his friends and family were waiting. All he could think about was getting out of the water.

"I got home and I was rocking from side to side. It felt like I was on a moving boat. My equilibrium was all over the place," he said.

Since he spent most of Aidan's birthday in the lake, the family was celebrating over the weekend with a trip to Branson. He'll skip the rides but eat the funnel cake and popcorn.

"I burned a few thousand calories," he said. "I think I've earned it."