Local marathon swimmer conquers St. Lucia Channel amid lightning storm

When we first met Melodee Liegel, she was just dipping in for the summer season. Today, she's one of only ten athletes to swim and complete the St. Lucia Channel. "I signed up for this swim at the end of last year. It's fairly new. In 2019 it started off as one of the big swims," says marathon swimmer Liegel. Looking to challenge herself, Liegel traded the lakes of Wisconsin for the Caribbean Sea. "The swells were three to three and a half feet for most of the swim, which she told me in the beginning that the first three or four hours would be the hardest and I think I thought after that it would get pretty flat and it never did," says Liegel. A veteran marathon swimmer, the 21-plus mile trek wasn't at the top of Liegel's concerns. But, mother nature did try and knock her off course, making it one of her more difficult swims.