"How far to New Orleans?" Hughes asked, popping her head up as she found her footing on the rocky river bed.
Her question splashed a ripple of laughter and applause up the bank through the crowd of about 50 who had gathered to cheer the end of her 57-day marathon swim from Pittsburgh.
Swimming 20 miles a day six days a week since May 22, when she dove into the Ohio's source at the confluence of the Monongahela and the Alleghany rivers, Hughes has endured nausea, dodged lightning, battled waves, evaded barges, lost the cap off a tooth and wept tears of pus when her eyes got infected. She does these feats, she explained to reporters gathered at the water's edge, because an issue will call to her. She knows that if she accomplishes an out-sized athletic feat, she will have the opportunity to talk to hundreds of people about a cause, in this case the importance of educating women and girls.
'I can swim'
Her support kayakers, a series of friends and strangers who volunteered along the way, were backed by independent film-maker Joanna Lai, who accompanied Hughes along the entire journey. Lai became the de facto logistics officer of the swim, organizing shuttle plans, locating beds and food, and hitching rides on boats to get her shots as she filmed the 60-day adventure.Lai expects to edit the documentary into completed form in the next six to nine months.
At least one kayaker each day paddled beside Hughes during the daily swims, which could take from about six hours to 12 or longer, depending upon current and weather conditions. The kayaker's duty was to keep Hughes on course in the open water, communicate with barges, boat captains and lock masters by marine radio, and to offer the water and energy bars Hughes would eat as she held onto the side of the kayak for a break every 90 minutes.
The project was driven by Hughes' simple assessment of how she might change the world using the tools she has at hand, or, in this case, at arms' length.
"I don't have any money; I don't have any political clout, but I can swim," Hughes said.
With a swim across the icy waters of the Bering Strait after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Hughes demonstrated how close the U.S. lies to Russia, urging peaceful cooperation between the two powers. During a five-year project to swim the 652 miles of the Tennessee River in 10-day chunks from 1998 to 2003, Hughes urged the importance of protecting water purity. Her 2006, 90-day, 1,771-mile swim of the Danube River through 10 countries in Europe gave her a platform to plead for international cooperation for peace and environmental protection. Her 2007, 500-mile swim of the Drava and Mura Rivers, tributaries of the Danube, added a second summer's work to that project.
For the Ohio, she pointed to the world-wide need of improving educational and economic opportunities for girls and women. And she hopes her own super-sized ambitions will inspire children to choose their own dreams to achieve.
A reading specialist who works with students ratcheting up their skills in preparation for college classes at Motlow State Community College in Fayetteville and Lynchburg, Tenn., Hughes sees the need to support the education of women in her professional life. She has watched too many young women struggle to keep their households afloat as they attempt to take classes to improve options both for themselves and for their children. It's a struggle often harder than her own physical exertions down the river, she said.
"I know there is not as much of a education gap between boys and girls in the U.S. as in some other countries," Hughes said. "But worldwide, when you educae a girl, you educate a village. Who does most of the teaching in elementary schools and Sunday schools?"
Cairo city officials, who met her at the river, paraded her through the town on top of a fire truck, bringing her to the fire department so she could grab a shower. There, Mayor Judson Childs presented Hughes with a commemorative plaque, the key to the city, flowers, and his own a cappella serenade of "You are so Beautiful" sung in a deep baritone voice. The tribute moved Hughes to tears and laughter.In remarks at the fire station, Hughes reiterated her point that she hopes her feat will inspire others to pick a cause and do something for it.
On her website, Hughes suggests that people donate to Greg Mortenson's Central Asia Institute The CAI builds schools in the strife-riddled mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the condition that girls are educated to the same level as boys. Along the Ohio, Hughes has spoken to and encouraged the support of local organizations for girls and women, including the local domestic shelter near Cairo.
And her next project?
"I don't pick swims that way," Hughes said. "I don't know if there will be one. But if something bothers me and I want to make a statement about it, I'll do some other feat that hasn't been done."
Her morning blog post Saturday includes a quote from Sakai Yusai, one of the marathon monks of Japan who run 1,000-mile journeys: "The first and last day of a 1,000-mile run are no different. The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. The aim is to achieve the initial purpose. Then you can enjoy what you have done. There is no backing out. When you have finished what you set out to do, then you have created something of value."