Jacques Tuset, a 62-year-old international marathon swimmer and Hall of Fame member, completed a series of open-water swims in Boston Harbor that connected the region’s maritime landscape with its complex historical legacy. Over several legs, Tuset swam from Deer, Peddocks, Georges, and Long islands, sites that were historically used as prison or internment locations, while battling physical challenges including tendinitis in his shoulder.

The series began with a 2.1-mile swim from Deer Island, former site of a prison that operated for over a century until its demolition in 1992, to Point Shirley in Winthrop. Despite his shoulder injury and previous experiences with jellyfish stings off Marseille, France, Tuset treated the swim as a routine effort. Supported by his two adult children, Lilou and William, who assisted with preparations such as applying Vaseline and sun protection, Tuset moved steadily through the water under the watch of an escort vessel equipped with a dive flag and carrying a Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association official to ensure compliance with regulations, including prohibitions on physical contact.

Tuset’s swimming career is marked by numerous challenging feats, including crossing the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar, and swimming around Manhattan. He has completed four swims around Alcatraz Island, replicating conditions similar to the infamous 1962 escape, and recounts swimming in waters inhabited by sharks near Devil’s Island in French Guiana. These historic prison swims began in 1999 as a way to raise awareness for choroideremia, a rare genetic disorder causing progressive blindness. The swimmer was inspired after learning about the experiences of children affected by the disease and sought to symbolically connect their condition to the isolation of prison cells through his swims from former prison islands worldwide.

In Boston Harbor, the swims navigated sites with profound historical significance: Peddocks Island, where Italian prisoners of war were held during World War II; Georges Island, home to Fort Warren, which detained Confederate prisoners; and Long Island, once the site of Indigenous internment during King Philip’s War in the 1670s. Each swim presented unique challenges, including strong currents in Hull Gut and unexpected wildlife encounters, such as a coyote near the demolished Long Island bridge, which necessitated changing the starting point for the final leg.

Despite increasing shoulder pain, Tuset completed the final 1.8-mile swim from Long Island to Orchard Beach in Quincy, passing landmarks including the Boston Police firing range on Moon Island. The swim took about an hour, and although the physical toll was evident, Tuset expressed satisfaction with the experience, praising the water conditions and reflecting on the historical and emotional weight carried by the sites.

Throughout the swims, Tuset maintained a calm and rhythmical stroke, focused on his mission to raise awareness and funds for those suffering from choroideremia. He emphasized the personal significance of continuing despite discomfort, noting that those he swims for face far greater challenges. The series highlighted not only Tuset’s endurance and dedication but also Boston Harbor’s layered history, linking past and present through the enduring act of open-water swimming.