Against the Odds

Facing the Fear

By Amanda Dahl

At age 60, Jonathan Whiting of Kirkwood is setting out to swim 21 miles across the English Channel this summer to honor his late wife, Lori, who died in 2016 from a rare bile duct cancer. His mission serves a dual purpose, as Whiting will also be raising funds and awareness for the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on that cancer.

“When Lori was receiving treatments at the National Institutes of Health, she met an advocate from the foundation,” Whiting says. “This advocate is a survivor of cholangiocarcinoma – and so they became friends. I thought of swimming the English Channel, and my first call was to the foundation.”

Whiting’s wife has had a profound impact on her family and community, as evidenced by the left wing of Kirkwood’s Keysor Elementary School, which was named after Lori, who worked there for only four months before receiving her cancer diagnosis.

“That’s the kind of effect she had,” Whiting says. “We always looked at silver linings in our relationships. She was never afraid. She has taught me to embrace my fears.”

A lifelong runner and triathlete, Whiting will face an immense physical and mental challenge when he takes to the open water this July. He has been training with his coach, Carol Breiter, who swam the English Channel in 1983, to acclimate his body to the colder temperatures of the channel (between 57 and 60 degrees, on average). No thermal-protected wet suits are allowed for the famous swim – only a protectant grease over a participant’s swimming garment.

This month, Whiting heads to Maui, Hawaii, for a long-distance ocean swim to prepare for seasickness. “I’m definitely facing some of my own fears,” he says.

“I’m not really crazy about swimming where there are other things I can’t see that swim faster than me … like sharks,” he says with a laugh. “I will say, there are no sharks in the English Channel because the water’s too cold! I will definitely encounter jellyfish in the middle, but they’re not lethal.”

He says he will also be dodging cargo ships when he swims the channel, which is the largest shipping channel in the world. “There are huge cargo ships that I might have to wait and let pass by,” Whiting says. “Once I start, I can’t stop. Even though the channel is 21 miles across, with high and low tides, it’s closer to 28 miles. I’m thinking it will be 14 to 18 hours [that I’ll swim].”

A boat will follow alongside Whiting and carry a limited number of supporters who will feed him by a stick. Less than 10 pilots are registered to steer the boat beside the swimmers, and Whiting lucked out in securing one who had a cancellation for this year.

“[Lori] prepared us for the future,” Whiting says. “She would tell me to move on but not forget about her. Of course, you can tell, I have not forgotten about her.”

Follow along and support Whiting’s journey as he honors the memory of his wife at 21milesofhope.org. ln

“[Lori] was never afraid. She has taught me to embrace my fears. I’m definitely facing some of my own fears.”

Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, 5526 W. 13400 South, No. 510, Herriman, Utah, 888-936-6731, cholangiocarcinoma.org