INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – Last week, Corey Murphey completed a 20-hour, 54-minute swim from Incline Village to Camp Richardson and back, breaking the previous record, set in 2013, by about an hour. On July 21, the Colorado-based swimmer launched from Incline Village at 8 p.m., swimming through the star-filled Tahoe night and into the next day.

“The moon was so bright that I actually thought my crew was shining a flashlight at me,” Murphey said.

The night seemed to pass quickly, and by the time the sun began to rise, she had already reached Camp Richardson. Under competition rules, Murphey could not spend more than 10 minutes out of the water. She took a nine-minute break to eat a few snacks before beginning the return swim to Incline Village.

“The last three hours I got some Tahoe winds, but the rest of the time was gorgeous and flat,” she said.

According to Murphey, the record-breaking swim was as much her crew’s accomplishment as it was her own. Her mother, Jill Murphey, accompanied her on a kayak for much of the swim while a support boat traveled alongside.

“My mom does all these swims with me, so it’s really special that I get to share it with the person I love the most in the world,” Murphey said.

Her mother kayak peddled alongside her for about 11 hours before being relieved by Sarah Thomas, another member of the support crew.

“She watches me like a hawk, and I appreciate it,” Murphey said. “It’s pretty rare that people have a parent willing to do that for them.”

Still, swimming for nearly 21 hours is no easy task, no matter how strong the support team.

“There are times I feel terrible, but then I just think, who gets to swim in the middle of Tahoe and look up and see the Milky Way in the middle of the night? It’s a very rare experience,” Murphey said.

Murphey is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Colorado Boulder and lives in Colorado. She previously spent about 10 years living in the Bay Area, where she frequently visited Lake Tahoe. After completing the record-breaking swim, she quickly returned home.