Finished in 10 hours, 5 minutes
on September 10, 2013
Swimmers who complete three famous marathon swims are added to a list for completing the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.
Believe it or not, it's become wildly popular to swim the 21 miles
(33.7 km) across the English Channel between England and France, the
20.2 miles (33 km) across the Catalina Channel in Southern California,
USA, and the 28.5 miles (45.8 km) around Manhattan Island in New York,
USA.
The
list has almost doubled since I came within 2 miles of becoming the
40th person to complete the three swims of the Triple Crown of Open
Water Swimming. Hypothermia ended that September 2010 swim after
enduring about 9 hours of unseasonably cold water in the Catalina
Channel. I've lived in Florida for more than 1/2 of my 51 years, so
things went wrong when the 60F temperatures were too much to handle. On
September 10th, 2013, I encountered warmer waters and had added 15% to
my body weight to provide insulation. I didn't even visit the barber
shop for over a year, just in case the extra hair may provide more
warmth underneath my swim cap. The most difficult challenge for a
swimmer based in Florida, is the acclimatization to the chilly waters of
the three Triple Crown marathon swims.
I feel very humbled, and fortunate that, on September 10th, 2013,
the Catalina Channel allowed me to add myself to the list of swimmers
who have achieved the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.
I can only begin to thank
everyone involved in making this dream a reality. My crew was amazing,
and the whole operation worked like a Swiss watch. But many others that
were not on the water that day were very much involved, including my
previous crew from 2010, my training friends at home, my wife, and
especially all of the other marathon swimmers from all over the world.
Many of you, I've never met in person, but I still consider you to
be some of my closest friends.
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