Winthrop Man Swims To Boston Lighthouse To Mark 300th Anniversary

BOSTON (CBS) -- Lynn District Court probation officer Kim Garbarino is quite a swimmer, and he had quite an idea to mark a historic day. 

"Somebody told me, 'hey, the Boston lighthouse is going to be 300-years-old next year,' and living in Winthrop and walking around Deer Island almost every night with my dogs I can see the lighthouse," Garbarino said. "It's one of my favorite places in the whole country."

Boston Light, as it's called, is the nation's first lighthouse. Garbarino loves it so much he decided to swim the 16 miles out there and back a few times.

"I swam South Boston Yacht Club to the lighthouse, and once again back to South Boston in three swims for me," he said.

The third time, just last week, he says, was the toughest.

"When I turned around to start swimming back to South Boston, I was swimming against the tide, I didn't realize it until after swimming for an hour," he said. "My wife, who guides me on her kayak say, 'hey, turn around,' and I turn around and the lighthouse was still behind me."

He made it back, eventually, though it was evening by then.

It wasn't Garbarino's first big swim. The 58-year-old once swam 24 hours straight to raise money for the local YMCA. Water is in the blood of Kim Garbarino.

"I swim because I love the, believe it or not, I love the solitude," he said. "I love the ocean."

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports