She survived polio and swam Lake George: Louise Rourke to speak at LGHA event

Louise Beckerie Rourke was an infant in 1954 when polio paralyzed her right leg. Sixty-four years later, she swam the 32-mile length of Lake George to raise funds to fight the disease.

Rourke will discuss her experiences swimming Lake George and talk about the impact polio has had on her life in a lecture titled “Inspired by the Lake,” a Lake George Historical Association program. Diane Struble’s daughter, Gwenne Rippon, will make the introduction.

The event will be held 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 28 at the LGHA Museum (the Old County Court House next to Shepard Park,) 290 Canada Street, Lake George. Admission is free. Refreshments will be served. The museum has an exhibit room dedicated to Lake George open water swimmers, and guests are invited to view the exhibit

As a young girl, Rourke spent summers on Lake George and, inspired by Diane Struble, who in 1958 was the first person to swim the entire length of the lake, dreamed of making her own 32-mile swim. Rourke achieved this goal last summer, making the swim in a relay with open-water swimmer Bridget Simpson.

The pair left from the Village of Lake George docks at 6:30 a.m. July 30 and completed the 32-mile swim in five- to six-mile legs. They reached Ticonderoga at 3 a.m. the following morning. The swimmers raised $40,000 for the Rotary’s Global Polio Eradication Initiative. This amount was tripled by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation bringing the total funds raised for the initiative to $120,000.

Polio has no cure, but it can be prevented with vaccination and has largely been eradicated in developed nations. According to the Eradication Initiative, polio continues to be endemic in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. A dozen countries, including China, are experiencing outbreaks and 14 countries are at-risk with poor levels of immunity and surveillance. This puts every country at risk. The mission of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is to help countries increase immunity and surveillance levels so that no child will suffer the debilitating effects of polio.

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