Dr. Chris Lechner is a 56-year-old American hand surgeon, standup paddler and open water swimmer from Asheville, North Carolina.
He has paddled solo 277 miles (446 km) along the French Broad River in North Carolina and attempted a solo, non-escorted 80-mile (128.7 km) open water swim across Lake Michigan with only a paddleboard, IOLITE and satellite phone. He was rescued close to his goal, just short of swimming from Racine Harbor in Wisconsin to Holland, Michigan as his GPS indicated that he had swum 95 cumulative miles. https://www.openwaterswimming.com/chris-lechner-alone-swimmers-journey/