Miguel Arrobas and Pietar Anderica Swims to Berlenga Island from Portugal

11.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Solo Challenges   |  (4) comments

On August 7th, Miguel Arrobas, with the English Channel and Strait of Gibraltar under this cap, swam 16K from Baleal Beach on the mainland of Portugal to Berlenga Island.

These islands are currently among the 21 locations competing to be part of Portugal's 7 Natural Wonders.

Miguel was joined by Spaniard Pieter Christian Anderica, also an English Channel, Catalina Channel and Strait of Gibraltar swimmer.

Miguel and Pietar attempted the first-ever crossing in this direction since Miguel is the record holder for the Berlenga-to-mainland (Peniche) direction, set in 2007). The Peniche–Berlengas area is particularly notorious for its heavy seas, strong winds and chilly water. The swimmers faced the oncoming winds, currents and 2-meter swells head-on.

Miguel and Pieter completed the swim in 5 hours and 3 minutes - and returned on a regularly scheduled ferry where they were warmly greeted by the vacationers and well-wishers.  In addition to their success, a five-person relay successfully swam from the Berlenga Island to the mainland (Peniche) in 4 hours and 53 minutes for the first time.

Miguel, a lawyer and father of 4, is also an ambassador for a group of Portuguese Private Hospitals which offers a full medical examination to a foster child from the Casa do Gaiato Institution of Lisbon for every kilometer he swims. As Miguel aims at achieving the Ocean’s Seven over the next four years, he is most definitely going to help many foster children.

Triple Crown Club Adds A Barber

10.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Solo Challenges   |  (8) comments

Veteran marathon swimmer Jim Barber added to his resume with a successful Catalina Channel crossing that earned him a place on the Triple Crown Club.

After three Manhattan Island Marathon Swims under his belt (7:45.43 in 1988, 7:45.15 in 1989 and 7:06.34 in 1991), Jim tackled the English Channel in 2006 with a 9:06.36 crossing and completed his Triple Crown with a 8:43.03 Catalina Channel crossing last week.

The Zionsville, Indiana resident was philosophical about his 22-year road to joining the Triple Crown Club, "With every challenge you put forth, there will be many small defeats to overcome. Keep your focus on what you set out to do and you will persevere."

The full list of swimmers on the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming Club is here.

Swimming Away From Spike Island

10.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Events   |  (9) comments

While Americans have their Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, Irish swimmers have Spike Island (Irish: Inis Píc) in Cork Harbour, Ireland. Both once well-guarded prisons with infamous inmates, the sites are now also known for challenging cold-water swims with tricky currents where convicts have given way to open water traditionalists and wetsuit-clad swimmers.

Markus Rössel reported on the recent Escape from Spike Island, a 2K swim between the mainland and the island. "It was glorious weather and an even better swim," said organizer Niall O Crualaoich.

Ellen O'Brien won the non-wetsuit division in 26:13 while Brian O'Shea won the wetsuit division in 24:34. 

Serpentine Ladies Complete Loch Ness

6.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Races   |  (6) comments

Six women from the Serpentine Swim Club completed their charity swim across Loch Ness yesterday.  More details will be provided soon on their swim in aid of Afghan Mother and Child Rescue.  To donate, visit here.   

Scottish Swimming in the Open Water

6.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Races   |  (4) comments

78 soloists and 10 relays took part in the British Gas Scottish Open Water Swimming Championships on July 24th in Fife. Stephen Waterhouse from Leeds and Mark Deans from Glasgow renewed their rivalry and never were separated by too much during some heated swim in the 2K and 5K races.

The swimmers went 1-2 in both the 2K and 5K races. Stephen won by one second in each event after the two rivals raced shoulder-to-shoulder for nearly 7K total. Konstantinos Grammenos from Edinburgh University took third place in the 5K and James Leitch finished third in the 2K.

The women's 5 km was won by Alice McCall comfortably won the women's 5K with Helen McRoberts in second and Ishbel Rodger in third. In the 2K race, Marnie Stewart broke free from the leading pack to take the victory, followed by Megan Donnelly and Ishbel Rodger.

The results:

Men's 5K
1. Stephen Waterhouse, 57:36
2. Mark Deans, 57:37
3. Konstantinos Grammenos, 58:07

Women's 5K
1. Alice McCall, 59:54
2. Helen McRoberts, 1:01:29
3. Ishbel Rodger, 1:01:30

Men's 2K
1. Stephen Waterhouse, 23:08
2. Mark Deans, 23:09
3. James Leitch, 23:51

Women's 2K
1. Marnie Stewart, 24:01
2. Megan Donnelly, 24:17
3. Ishbel Rodger, 24:30

The 2010 Scottish open water swimming calendar runs from June to September:

June 12th: YeAABA Kirkton of Balmarino in Dundee / River Tay
June 13th: East District Championships in Lochore Meadows
June 13th: YeAABA Tayport Cup in Dundee / River Tay
June 26th: YeAABA Veterans Single Tay in Dundee / River Tay
July 3rd: Midland District Championships in Loch Earn
July 10th: YeAABA Monifieth Championship in Dundee / River Tay
July 24th: Scottish Championships in Strathclyde Park
August 7th: YeAABA Double Tay Championship in Dundee / River Tay
August 8th: YeAABA Woodhaven Championship in Dundee / River Tay
August 13th: Midland District Stannergate Championship in Dundee / River Tay
August 14th: West District Championships in Strathclyde Park
August 15th: Scottish Championships in Loch Rannoch
August 22nd: Midland District Senior Championship in Dundee / River Tay
August 30th: YeAABA Bridge to Bridge Championship in Dundee / River Tay
September 4th: North District Championships in Loch Oich
September 5th: Forth River Race in South Queensferry / River Forth
September 11th: YeAABA Loch Earn Championship in Loch Earn
September 12th: YeAABA Crannog Mile Championship in Loch Earn

Swimming With Angels in New York City

5.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Training   |  (12) comments

Swim Free is a preferred charity of NYC Swim helps improve the health of children and adults through learn-to-swim, water safety and water cleanliness programs.

Swim Free recently started an innovative Swim Free Angel initiative.  The Swim Free Angel program helps comfort people of all ages who are anxious in and around the water by providing shore-side and in-the-water support, offering encouragement and coping mechanisms to help people overcome their fears.

Swim Free launched its new program at the 2010 Governors Island Swim in New York City where Angels took anxious swimmers under their wings and helped them achieve their initial open water swimming goals.

"It was an outstanding success," reported Marjorie Spitz of Swim Free.

As part of this program, Dr. Stacey Rosenfeld, Chief Psychologist of the NYC Triathlon, provided the following advice to anxious and new open water swimmers in order to help them overcome their fears as part of this Swim Free Angel program:

If you’re feeling anxious:
• Take some deep, diaphragmatic breaths
• Scan your body for tense muscle groups and try to relax those that are tense
• Close your eyes and picture yourself in a relaxing place (i.e., the beach, the woods); focus on all your senses in this place—what do you see, smell, hear, feel, taste?
• Remind yourself of all your training and hard work
• Focus on what you need to do during your race, rather than the actual outcome
• Try distracting yourself with pleasant thoughts about family, friends, or events
• Talk about what you’re feeling
• See if you can challenge some of your anxiety-related thoughts
o For instance, what’s your greatest fear? What’s the worse case scenario?
o How would you cope with this scenario?

What to do if you feel anxious or fatigued during the swim:
• Tread water, or float on your back
• Switch to an easier stroke (elementary back stroke, side stroke, doggy paddle, or anything that allows you more breathing time than the crawl)
• Remind yourself of your training and understand that getting all worked up will not help you in this situation—instead, try to take a few deep breaths (don’t worry about wasting time) and then continue on with your swim

Dr. Rosenfeld advises that if you find yourself with muscle cramps, breathing difficulties, etc., follow the instructions above, while doing a visual search for the nearest rescue boat. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself before the swim with where the rescue workers are.

She continues, "Many of the principles that are discussed with racing are applicable to other areas of life (e.g., work, relationships, etc)."

• Accept where you are: Remember, even professional athletes have good and bad days. Expecting the best out of yourself at all times is a dangerous proposition. Familiarize yourself with the art of radical acceptance.

• Practice, practice, practice: With anything, the more you do it, the better you’ll become. Similarly, you will develop self-efficacy (confidence in that particular task), which can only serve to improve performance.

• Set goals of variable levels and continue to adjust them as you compete and as you see improvements in some areas and identify others that may need work.

• Recognize self-defeating patterns: Be aware of how you might catastrophize or plan for negative events with little to no evidence. Thinking in this way can actually cause negative events to occur (e.g., panicking about not being able to swim will negatively impact your swimming) and certainly results in anxiety and depression. Try to challenge negative thoughts with more realistic, evidence-driven ideas.

• Focus on the process, rather than the outcome. A good race is one in which you challenge and enjoy yourself, not one in which you beat out your biggest rival.

• Plan ahead: Survey the course beforehand. Know what you’re up against, and strategize before the fact in order to increase your chances of success.

• Envision where you want to be: If we can imagine ourselves performing successfully, there’s a better chance this will occur. Take time each day to do so.

Having a Swim Free Angel in your corner seems to make a lot of sense.

Swim Free All Around New York City

5.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Events   |  (4) comments

Swim Free, a charity supported by RCN, is rolling out a special offer for open water swimmers together with the NYC Swim on October 8th.

Swim Free is offering a unique opportunity to swim around Manhattan Island in a NYC Swim-sanctioned Manhattan Island Marathon Relay Swim.

18 coveted spots (3 teams of 6 swimmers) can participate in the 28.5-mile circumnavigation of Manhattan Island. Teams are enter themselves or Swim Free can match interested swimmers with other solo swimmers looking for team members.

Qualifications and fundraising details are located here. The deadline for qualification is September 16th.

It is rare that such opportunities present themselves to the global open water swimming community because the annual and always competitive Manhattan Island Marathon Swim is highly selective in choosing athletes for its limited field and requires thoughtful and comprehensive documentation of one's qualifications and motivations. The time is now and the opportunity is here

Photo of the Swim Free Angels.

Protecting Our Ocean With Project Kaisei and Expedia

4.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Products & Equipment   |  (3) comments

From California to Hong Kong, singer, model and spokesperson G.E.M. is carrying her hopeful message of protecting our increasingly polluted oceans from becoming a global plastic waste dump. G.E.M. explains her role with Project Kaisei here in Chinese with English subtitles that includes video clips from the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships in Long Beach, California.

You can also do your part to help protect our oceans when you make your hotel reservations on the new Expedia website.

Click on Project Kaisei to get a 8% rebate back to Project Kaisei.

Revised World Marathon Swimming Records

3.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Solo Challenges   |  (4) comments

The list below is only a very short list of all the world records in marathon swimming - all done without wetsuits or polyurethane swimsuits and under traditional marathon swimming rules. With over 70% of the Earth covered in water, the number of records and locations to swim are numerous and potentially endless. If you know of additional records, please send the name, country, year and time to World Marathon Swimming Records. 

Females who hold overall marathon records include Karen Burton of the USA holds the fastest Catalina Channel crossing from Catalina to the California mainland in 7 hours and 43 minutes.

Penny Dean of the USA holds the fastest Catalina Channel crossing from California to Catalina Island in 7 hours and 15 minutes.

Denise Anderson of New Zealand holds the fastest Cook Strait crossing (from South Island to North Island) in 5 hours and 4 minutes.

Cindy Cleveland of the USA holds the fastest crossing of Monterey Bay, south of San Francisco, as well as the fastest circumnavigation around Catalina Island.

Alison Streeter of Great Britain holds the fastest crossing of the North (Irish) Channel from Ireland to Scotland in 9 hours and 53 minutes.

Alison Streeter also holds the fastest crossing of the North (Irish) Channel from Scotland to Ireland in 10 hours and 2 minutes.

Julia Bradshaw of the UK holds the fastest butterfly-only English Channel crossing of 14 hours and 18 minutes.

Tina Neil of the USA holds the fastest backstroke-only English Channel crossing in 13 hours and 22 minutes.

Tina Neil also holds the fastest backstroke-only Catalina Channel crossing in 10 hours and 37 minutes.

Penny Palfrey of Australia (shown above swimming) holds the fastest San Miguel Channel (30 miles from San Miguel Island to the California mainland near Santa Barbara) in 11 hours and 29 minutes.

Penny also holds the fastest 30-mile Alenuihaha Channel crossing (Hawaii to Maui) in 14 hours and 51 minutes.

Penny also holds the fastest Santa Barbara Channel (40 miles from Santa Barbara Island to the Calfornia mainland) in 17 hours and 53 minutes.

Shelley Taylor-Smith holds the fastest circumnavigation around Manhattan Island in New York in 5 hours and 45 minutes - a record that some men are going to attempt to break on September 10th.

On the men's side on the equation, here are some records and record holders:

Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria (holds the fastest English Channel crossing (England-to-France) in 6 hours and 57 minutes (shown above) although the overall English Channel record has been held by several women throughout history from Gertrude Ederle and Greta Andersen to Lynne Cox and Penny Dean).

Stéphane Lecat of France holds the fastest 32K crossing of lac St-Jean in Quebec, Canada in 6 hours and 22 minutes.

Paul Asmuth of the USA holds the fastest two-way (64K) crossing of lac St-Jean in Quebec, Canada in 17 hours and 6 minutes.

John Kinsella of the USA holds the fastest (50K) crossing of Lake Ontario in Canada in 13 hours and 49 minutes.

Richard Davey of the UK holds the fastest English Channel crossing (France-to-England - a direction no longer swum as a one-way crossing) in 8 hours and 5 minutes.

Philip Rush of New Zealand holds the fastest two-way English Channel crossing in 16 hours and 10 minutes.

Philip also holds the fastest three-way English Channel crossing in 28 hours and 21 minutes.

Fredrik Jacques of Belgium holds the fastest breaststroke-only English Channel crossing of 13 hours and 31 minutes.

Casey Glover of New Zealand holds the fastest Cook Strait crossing (North Island-to-South Island) in 4 hours and 37 minutes.

Philip Rush holds the fastest two-way Cook Strait crossing in 16 hours and 16 minutes.

Philip also holds the fastest one-way crossing of Lake Taupo in New Zealand in 10 hours and 14 minutes and the fastest two-way crossing.

Chris Palfrey of Australia holds the fastest Molokai Channel crossing (between Oahu and Molokai) in 12 hours and 53 minutes.

Georgios Charcharis of Greece holds the fastest Strait of Gibraltar crossing (between Spain and Morocco) in 2 hours and 16 minutes.

Mark Saliba of Australia holds the fastest Rottnest Channel crossing (Western Australia to Rottnest Island) in 4 hours and 15 seconds.

Ned Denison of Ireland holds the fastest Santa Cruz Channel (20 miles from Santa Cruz Island to the California mainland near Santa Barbara) in 10 hours and 27 minutes.

Marc Lewis of the USA holds the fastest Santa Rosa Channel (30 miles from Santa Rosa Island to the California mainland near Santa Barbara) in 15 hours and 46 minutes.

John York holds the fastest two-way crossing of the Catalina Channel in 16 hours and 42 minutes.

Steven Munatones of the USA holds the fastest Tsugaru Channel crossing from Hokkaido-to-Honshu in 6 hours and 39 minutes and from Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 6 hours and 11 minutes.

Steven also holds the fastest crossing of Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan, (42K) in 10 hours and 36 minutes.

Yu Lixin of China holds the fastest crossing of Poyang Lake (Chinese: 鄱阳湖), the largest lake in China, in 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Maarouf Mohamed of Egypt holds the fastest time of 5 hours and 51 minutes in the 26.4K International Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim from Rapperswil to Zürich in Lake Zürich, Switzerland.

Nick Caine of the USA holds the fastest Anacapa Channel (Anacapa Island to the California mainland near Santa Barbara) in 5 hours and 3 minutes.

Nick Adams of England holds the fastest crossing from Jersey to France in 7 hours and 3 minutes.

Nick also holds the fastest circumnavigation of Jersey (Round Jersey) in 9 hours and 51 minutes.

Chris Derks of the USA holds the fastest completion of the 24-mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim in 7 hours and 41 minutes.

For corrections and additions, please send the name, country, year and time to World Marathon Swimming Records.  Photo of Petar Stoychev by Dr. Jim Miller.

1300K to the Tatar Strait

3.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Events   |  (5) comments

The Voice of Russia reported that 25 swimmers from Russia and China started on a 1,300K marathon relay along the Amur River, the world's ninth longest river that represents the border between the Russian Far East and northeastern China, to the Tatar Strait, a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia. They will finish at Sakhailin Island (see chart on right) in an attempt to earn mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The participants range between the ages of 16 to 70 and will be swimming daily from 7 am till 9 pm until the expected finish on August 19 in Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky.

Pavel Kuznetsov, an English Channel swimmer and Russian representative on the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame board of directors explained, "There are quite a few similar swims in Russia, when people swim as a relay day-by-day with a night's rest."

Aquatic Stars Wanted for Total Wipeout

3.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Events   |  (2) comments

Assistant Producer Milly Fraser is currently searching for new competitors for the British Broadcasting Company's Saturday night show Total Wipeout.

According to Milly, Total Wipeout is a tough and demanding course that requires a high level of fitness to win the £10,000 prize. Strong swimmers typically perform well.

Total Wipeout looks for contestants from a variety of backgrounds but females with a drive and talent to beat the men are highly sought after. For more information, click here or email here.

Applicants must be 18 years of age and over and a resident in the UK or a UK citizen who is able to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina for filming.

Nick Adams Sets His Second World Marathon Swimming Record

1.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Solo Challenges   |  (2) comments

The world marathon swimming list was updated today due to Nick Adams's swim of 9 hours and 51 minutes around Jersey (Round Jersey).

A veteran of marathon swims around the world and the creator of the globally popular Channel Swimmers website Adams slivered two minutes off of the record of 9 hours and 53 minutes, set in 1989 by the legendary Queen of the Channel Alison Streeter.

Photos by Sally Minty-Gravett.

Cool, Creative, Colorful Open Water Swimming Posters

1.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Events   |  (3) comments

The new Veterans Day Charity Swim is a cold-water swim between the legendary Coney Island and Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York on November 6th.

Benefits from the 1-mile, 2-mile and 5K races, with wetsuit and non-wetsuit divisions, benefit Service Women's Action Network and the Wounded Warrior Project.

In a classic touch of innovation and safety, in the Veterans 5K race, swimmers can switch to a smaller distance mid-race if they feel that the cold is too much for them.

CIBBOWS (Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers) sponsor 3 swims - each with outstanding, colorful posters.

The Grimaldo's Mile is traditionally held in late June and the Aquarium 5K and Mile is held annually in early August near the Coney Island Pier.

Dan Projansky Flies Into Help

1.Aug.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Solo Challenges   |  (3) comments

Dan Projansky is preparing to swim non-stop butterfly in the upcoming 8-mile Swim 4 Freedom in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on August 8th.

"I swimming butterfly to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation that provides college educations to children who lost a parent while serving in Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps."

Petar Stoychev’s Unprecedented 10-year Run at la Traversee

31.Jul.10   |  posted by: steve munatones  |   filed under: Races   |  (3) comments

Petar Stoychev won his unprecedented tenth straight victory in a hard-earned swim at the 56th annual Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean this afternoon in Quebec, Canada.

Petar's victory can be seen starting via a webcast here. The unofficial results are here as several athletes did not finish in the 18.5 degree C water.

1. Petar Stoychev (BUL), 6:40:22
2. Simon Tobin (CAN), 6:43:37
3. Damian Blaum (ARG), 7:07:35
4. Evgenj Pop Acev (MCD), 7:19:03
5. Paul Blais-Morisset (CAN), 7:44:39

1. Pilar Geijo (ARG), 7:08:38
2. Antonella Bogarin (ARG), 7:08:48
3. Esther Nunez Moreno (ESP), 7:32:24
4. Shelley Clark (AUS), 7:4:06

Petar was en route to breaking France's Stéphane Lecat record early in the swim, but fell off the pace as he won comfortably.

 
















Photos by Steeve Tremblay.