Man with Medtronic disc swims the English Channel

Star Tribune, by Janet Moore | August 22, 2011

Doug McConnell had been swimming about 20 miles a week in preparation for this week’s English Channel ­attempt.

Doug McConnell had just polished off a big greasy plate of fish and chips while in Dover, England, when the call came.

“Can you swim the English Channel tomorrow?” he was asked.

Of course, he could swim it, McConnell thought. He knew he was ready. The 53-year-old Chicago-area investment banker had been training for the notoriously difficult trek from Dover to the French port of Calais for more than two years. Part of that training was disrupted by a severely herniated disc in his neck that required a cervical disc replacement, made by Fridley-based Medtronic Inc.  Read more about Doug’s English Channel swim.