Jon Ornée turns in record open water swim, cycling ride after being hit by car.
By Dan D’Addona (Holland Sentinel: Original Article here.)
Posted Oct 9, 2019
Jon Ornée stood with both arms extended, basking in the beauty of the day and his stunning accomplishment.
In a four-day span, Ornée broke a World Ultra Cycling record and became the first person on record to swim from Pyramid Point to North Manitou Island near Glen Arbor.
It was much different than his feeling just months ago as he suffered major injuries, flying 30 feet through the air after being hit by a car on his bike.
But that made the accomplishment all the more impressive.
“I was planning to do these events on a personal challenge. I try to do these things as a celebration of what I love. So I wanted to stay focused on that,” said Ornée, a Holland resident. “I got hit in the act of doing something I loved. I didn’t want it to rob me of something that brought me joy. I knew if I didn’t do it, I would regret it.”
On Sept. 20, he swam from Pyramid Point to North Manitou Island, a 7.4-mile trek that took Ornée 2 hours, 50 minutes to complete.“It was a straight swim, but I stopped a couple times to tread and drink some water. Plus I wanted to bask in the fact that this was really happening,” he said. “I did the swim with a wetsuit and flippers, which helps me in the recovery. Swimming is really stressful on my elbow without it. It was just an unbelievable day (weather-wise). Usually there are more obstacles when you swim in Lake Michigan. It was like the universe gifted me a perfect day.“There is no record of anyone having done it before. I wanted to be someone on record.”Four days later, Ornée and four cycling teammates set a World Ultra Cycling record by racing from Bronson Park in Muskegon to Port Sanilac — 205 miles away. The existing record was 9 hours, 12 minutes, and Ornée’s team did it in 8:17. That is an average of 24.7 miles per hour.“Initially, I was planning on doing the cycling attempt in July. The swim I intended to do in early August,” he said. “I had a good plan, for them to be a month apart, so I could refocus and recover.”Of course, that didn’t happen because of the crash.“I was going north on Lakeshore Drive and they were coming south on Lakeshore. I was going straight on Lakeshore and they were turning left onto Lakewood. They were supposed to yield to the oncoming traffic,” he said.They did not.“It was crazy. Moments like that happen really fast, but are slow motion at the same time. There was a 2-3 second window in time when I knew I was going to get hit because the car was coming right at me,” he said. “Then flying through the air and in that moment, just realizing I didn’t know how this was going to end. It was a this-might-be-it moment. I flew about 30 feet and somehow did an involuntary tuck-and-roll. My head didn’t take a whole lot of impact. All of it came onto my right elbow. Then I laid there and realized I could think straight, wiggle my fingers and toes and was alive.”His elbow shattered with the pointy end of it floating in his tricep, which required surgery to fix.
“I had two steel pins put in. I had another fracture in my arm as well as a sprained ankle — plus plenty of bumps and bruises,” he said. “I was alive and grateful, but also saying a lot of bad words. I was in a lot of pain and super frustrated in that moment, still not sure of the extent. Two other friends of mine were hit within a month of me. It happens way too often. I couldn’t have done this without a boat and a captain and a great support system.”
Ornée’s family, friends, teammates and trainers have helped him stay motivated to continue with his goals after the crash.
But one thing is for sure, Ornée is still not fully recovered.
“I still have a long way to go before I am fully recovered. I am super pumped I still get to do some of the things I love.I still have another eight months of physical therapy. I can’t wait until I don’t have to do that any more,” he said. “These accomplishments don’t signify the end of the road, but they were a huge portion of motivation — kind of an act of redemption.”
— Contact Sports Editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com or 616-546-4276. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona and Facebook @Holland Sentinel Sports.