Nick Irons has an ambitious goal. To help Irons meet that goal, his entire family has gotten into the swim of things.

But Irons is doing the swimming. Irons, 25, is swimming the Mississippi River in almost its entirety, from Minneapolis to Baton Rouge -- a distance of about 1,500 miles.

His goal is to raise $5 million for research of multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system.

Irons and his crew are expected to arrive at the riverfront in downtown Cape Girardeau between 4:30 and 5 p.m. today.

Accompanying Irons on the trip is one of his brothers, Andrew Irons, who mans the small, inflatable boat that leads the way for his brother. Andrew, 22, is a recent college graduate.

Also accompanying the swimmer are Dave Douglas, piloting a 28-foot boat behind the swimmer, and a college roommate of Irons, Tyler Zenner.

Irons' brother, John Irons Jr., 26, a graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, takes care of the web page, keeping up-to-date information. He maintains the web site from his residence in Somerville, Mass.

Irons' parents, Connie and John Irons Sr., coordinate much of the off-site logistics. The elder Dr. Irons and wife have lived in Bethesda, Md., four years, where Irons, an allergist, has a private practice at Allergy and Asthma Clinic of North Bethesda.

Dr. Irons is the motivation behind young Irons' journey. The elder Irons has muultiple sclerosis.

Several hundred thousand people in the U.S. have multiple sclerosis. Irons is seeking pledges along the route.

It takes many people working together to make a difference, Irons told a crowd during a recent stop at St. Louis.

"I can't do it alone ... neither can you, but together we can make a pretty great team," he said. "Whether you pledge a penny a mile ($15), or a dollar a mile ($1,500), it all adds up, and you can help in the fight against multiple sclerosis.

"We are so proud of our sons," said Mrs. Irons. "This is something that Nick is so determined about. He is dedicated to the cause."

Nick Irons, who left Ste. Genevieve Sunday, covered 26 miles Sunday, and added another 24 miles Monday, leaving 20-plus miles before arriving in Cape Girardeau today.

Irons, who previously coached swimming for Southern California aquatics, was a swimmer for Boston College, where he graduated in 1994.

Irons has also been working at a television production company at Los Angeles.

He left Minneapolis June 1, wearing a full wet suit But, with the water temperatures now above 80 degrees, he sticks to swimming in swimming trunks and goggles.

He has averaged better than 12 miles a day during his two-month journey, but has more than doubled that over the past few days.

Irons trained for the long Mississippi River swim by averaging seven miles a day in a pool coupled with long ocean swims on weekends before starting the long swim.

Irons spends about five to six hours a day in the water. He rests one day a week.

Irons' major sponsors are Nike, Gatorade, and Farmers Insurance. Between the sponsors and generous people along the way, he and his team have not yet had to pay for a hotel room.

The team sleeps aboard the larger boat on occasion. They slept aboard the boat Sunday night and Monday night, said his father.

Irons' parents joined him at the halfway point, at St. Louis, and will rejoin him when he comes out of the Mississippi for the last time in Baton Rouge.

Irons is not the first person to swim the length of the Mississippi River. A man from Oklahoma performed the feat in 1907. Other attempts have been made but aborted.

The Mississippi is the longest and largest river in the U.S., stretching a total of more than 1,800 miles from Minneapolis to the Gulf of Mexico south of New Orleans.