The search and rescue operation for a long-distance swimmer believed to have drowned during a 120-mile marathon swim down the Hudson river last week has reportedly been called off. 67-year-old AIDS researcher Charles Van der Horst of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was last seen on the second-to-last leg of the swim near Fort Washington Park by the George Washington Bridge mid-afternoon on Friday. That part of the “8 Bridges Hudson River Swim” started at the Tappan Zee Bridge. The marathon swim covered 120 miles over seven days, starting June 8th at the Rip Van Winkle Bridge between Hudson and Catskill. Organizers cancelled Saturday’s final leg from the George Washington Bridge to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge while the search for Van der Horst continued.