"My first goal was not drowning," Porter, a 1984 Cooperstown High School graduate, said Monday. Luckily, he achieved that goal, completing the nine-mile swim in just under five hours-four hours, 58 minutes and 23 seconds, to be exact.

Porter began his trek at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, starting at Springfield Landing and finishing at Lakefront Park. After his swim, Porter continued his athletic day, playing 18 holes of golf.

"I could only lift my left arm about three or finches on Sunday morning," Porter, who was battling a rotator cuff injury, said. "But beside some sunburn I feel pretty much back to normal today."

Porter was accompanied by Seth Richter, a former Otsego County planner, and said taking food and drink breaks turned out to be one of the toughest aspects of completing the swim.

"I quickly found out that trying to tread water with a banana in one hand and Gatorade in the other was not a good idea," he said. "It was much more tiring to stop and tread water than I thought it would be."

Porter said he began thinking about swimming the lake last September, and in October started training at the Clark Sports Center pool.

"At that point five laps was quite an accomplishment," he said. "But I slowly built up and in June began training in the lake. Going from the warm water at the Sports Center to the green, cold, dark, murky water of Otsego Lake was almost like starting over again. But while I was swimming Saturday I felt comfortable. Seth was pushing me for the last 20 to 30 minutes because he wanted me to finish in less than five hours, so I was quite exhausted when I got to shore."

Porter will have his name added to a plaque at the Clark Sports Center, which documents all swimmers who have completed the challenge.

Sarah Groff holds the women's, and overall record for fastest time, compiling a time of three hours and 48 minutes as a 14-year-old in 1996. Cooperstown's Angus Mackie holds the men's record of four hours and 20 minutes. The last documented swim of Otsego Lake was completed by Sheila Quinn and Liz Brown in August of last year.