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Just Keep Swimming

“The thing is, I’ve been telling people I’m going to swim across the river for years,” says Tom Morillo, 47. “So, I don’t know, last night I just decided it was the time to go.” So, after eight beers, he jumped into the Detroit River and swam from Detroit, Mich., to Windsor, Ont., Canada, sparking an international rescue effort involving the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards. Morillo said he had made it to Windsor and reentered the water to swim back when he noticed the rescue effort. “As soon I saw the helicopters going by and the boats looking for me, I was like ‘oh, this is really stupid’,” he said. He was charged with public intoxication, and other charges may be pending. “If I’m going to be in the paper, I’d at least like them to say I actually made it,” Morillo said. “I gotta pay fines and stuff. But I don’t want it to sound like I didn’t make it, because then my buddies are going to say ‘ha, ha, you didn’t make it.’ Because that was the whole thing, to show them I could do it.” (MS/Windsor Star) ...He lived because he didn’t say “Hold my beer and watch this” before he jumped in.