Family of Edmund Fitzgerald's crew on hand as swimmers finish intended route to mark 50 years since sinking

The Old Mariners Church in Detroit, Mich., was a fitting end to honour an epic journey for a group of swimmers.

A day earlier, they completed a swim that followed the intended route of the Edmund Fitzgerald, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the American freighter.

"The Edmund Fitzgerald and all the mariners that have been lost since they've been keeping records ... they were building the economies of both Canada and the United States," event organizer Jim Dreyer said.

"The perils they faced to do that — it really drives it home when we talk about the Edmund Fitzgerald and all these other shipwrecks, how perilous it is out there."

The Edmund Fitzgerald, a freighter carrying iron ore pellets, sank in stormy Lake Superior waters. (Supplied by Bill Steer)

Sixty-eigh