The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - A retired dentist has been swimming in the cold, choppy waters of Lake Erie to prepare for his next goal: Becoming the oldest person ever to swim the English Channel at age 68.

Since March, Joe Van Horn of Canton has been working out in Lake Erie in Cleveland because of the rough current and water temperature. He's trying to build strength, endurance and resistance to cold water, the things most important for the 20-mile swim.

"When you say English Channel, it's like saying Kentucky Derby for horseracing. It's been famous ever since it was first done in 1875," Van Horn said.

The oldest person to successfully make the swim across the English Channel was Bertram Clifford Batt of Australia. He was 67 years, 241 days old when he swam from Cap Gris-Nez to Dover in 18 hours and 37 minutes in 1987, according to Kate White, a spokeswoman for the Guinness Book of Records.

Susan Fraenkel of South Africa holds the world record for oldest woman to swim the Channel. At 46 years, 103 days, she crossed the water in 12 hours, 5 minutes on July 24, 1994, White said Monday.

Van Horn was a varsity swimmer in high school and lettered at Ohio State.

"I swam so much as a kid I really didn't like to swim," he said.

To stay in shape, he took up running in the mid-1960s, and started entering the Boston Marathon. By the early '80s, he was entering triathlons, which require running, swimming and bicycling.

The channel swims are attempted only in July, August and part of September, he said, and even then the water is between 58 and 62 degrees. Wetsuits and flotation devices are banned, and one can get food and water from a chase boat, but cannot touch the vessel.

For insulation, swimmers are allowed to wear a special grease available in an English drug store.

Van Horn said an English observer rides in the boat and "watches every stroke," to make sure the rules are followed.

Once in the U.K., he has to pay about $3,000 to charter the chase boat, a small fishing vessel that can take the channel waters and provide some shelter from the elements as it trolls alongside him.