Swim the English Channel? My sister and her friend just checked that off their bucket lists - Fearless

By Emily Barske, Business Record editorWhen I told friends and colleagues that my sister – Elizabeth (Barske) McLain – was going to swim the English Channel, a lot of them responded with disbelief or awe. But I, for one, wasn’t shocked.For as long as I can remember, my sister has been a swimmer. Elizabeth, who’s 2½ years older than me, had already set a precedent for our family name by the time I was in swim lessons as a 4-year-old. She already had an impressive collection of ribbons from the Blue Wave swim team at the YMCA before I dove in for my very first race. And when it came time for me to join the high school swim team, Barske was already a recognizable name on a Marshalltown High School swim cap – and spectators could tell they were about to see a good race, thanks to her.Not only is she a lifelong swimmer, but she’s pretty stubborn. (Maybe she’d choose a different word, but this is my column.) That’s why when we were on a trip in Athens, Greece, we kept climbing up a mountain...