Plastikos manager Rob Cooney goes for a (very long) swim

Rob Cooney was within 5 miles of completing a 24.3-mile marathon swim across Lake Erie when he ran into some rough conditions.

Cooney was confident that he'd finish the swim. After all, he'd been preparing for this day for nine months, with daily swimming workouts starting at 5 a.m. before heading to work at Plastikos Inc., a custom injection molder in Erie, Pa.

"We had nice weather, but I ran into some unexpected current through the middle of the lake," Cooney said. "At that point I just kind of switched off in my mind and thought, 'Just be happy, get this thing done and get out of the water before dark.'"

Cooney, 38, made it to Freeport Beach, near Erie, about a half hour before sunset on July 19. He was greeted by a big crowd, including family, coworkers and friends.

"It was like 8:12 p.m. It was just picture-perfect, the way that it ended. The water flattened out when we had about a half mile to go. We were getting pushed around in the last five miles or so by some heavy waves. But it seems like when the sun starts to set, the lake will lie down. So it was just a picture-perfect ending with a pretty big crowd there waiting for me," he said.

On shore, some of his Plastikos colleagues were wearing gray T-shirts with "Team Barra Cooney" logos. The crowd was big and noisy.

"The feeling, coming out of the water, was really hard to explain. Just to know that I did something that in the beginning, I felt pretty sure about, but not that many people have done it, and a lot have failed at it. So I was excited to get it done and get back to normal life with my family," Cooney said.

Two local TV reporters were in the crowd. After Cooney had a chance to catch his breath, they interviewed him as he sat in a beach chair, surrounded by his wife, Keri, and their three children, ages 9, 7 and 2.

"I'm not one to be out in the spotlight and invite the interviews and things of that nature. So definitely, to see that amount of people there, and as I was getting closer to shore, I could kind of hear them chanting, and the cow bells and whistles and horns were all out, it was really cool. It gave me some adrenaline when I was getting toward the end," he said.

Cooney accomplished something that only 23 people had done before him. He swam across Lake Erie, from Long Point, Ontario, to Freeport Beach.

Rules for the Lake Erie swim are similar to those for the better-known swim across the English Channel: Participants are not permitted to use artificial assistance of any kind, such as a wetsuit or fins. They can pause for food, but they must tread water while they eat — even the slightest touch onto an escort boat isn't allowed.

Cooney has been swimming his whole life — competitively when he was a kid, for exercise since his college days at Penn State Behrend.

He joined Plastikos and sister company Micro Mold Co. Inc. 16 years ago. He started as an intern in 1999, during his sophomore year at Penn State Behrend. After he graduated, he worked at another local company for a few years, then he joined Plastikos as its first full-time plastics engineer in 2002. He was promoted to manufacturing manager in 2006, and he became a part owner of Plastikos in 2009.

He approached the swim like he handles work: He created a rigid training plan and focused on meeting goals along the way. He also had to adjust his nutrition: He had to snack constantly to get enough calories for his intense workouts. For training, he swam 720 miles in nine months, including open water swims of up to 20 miles.

"You know when I set my sights on it and I put a plan in place to do it, I felt very confident. But at the same time, I was nervous. I never put my body through something so demanding from a physical and mental standpoint — more in training. The actual day of the swim was fun, and I didn't run into any physical or mental issues," he said. "I didn't want to let anybody down. I wanted to make it across and be successful with it."

Cooney was shooting to finish in 12 hours. For the first 14 miles, he was on pace to finish in 11 hours or less. But after fighting the current, he ended up finishing in 13 hours, 32 minutes.

Cooney wanted to show his children that they can achieve their goals through hard work, passion and dedication. He also swam to raise funds for Parkinson Partners of Northwestern Pennsylvania, a local charity that provides help to patients with Parkinson's disease.

Cooney's father, Dave, a retired Pepsi salesman in Erie, was diagnosed with Parkinson's 11 years ago.

"He's definitely like me, just a real go-getter in life. When I trained on weekends, he was up at the crack of dawn and just ready to go and watch me swim, every day. So it's cool that we were able to raise just over $15,000 for the Parkinson Partners," Cooney said.

Cooney is surprised that he has become an inspiration to coworkers, too. Some now have goals to lose weight or exercise more, motivated by Cooney's example. Usually a low-key, get-stuff-done kind of guy, he wasn't sure that most of his coworkers even knew about his plan to swim Lake Erie.

Now he's thinking about his next goal: He's helping others who want to tackle the Long Point-to-Freeport Beach swim, and he's spending some quality time with his family.

"Without having a strong family commitment and their encouragement, this swim would not be possible," he said.