Hi Niel,
Here is what happened yesterday, the 30th
I went down at 11 to see if anyone was swimming. the red tide was in full bloom and the sea was as nasty as it's been all year. Only one lonely soul on the beach, wearing a speedo and carrying a swim bag. He headed toward the lifeguard stand and I met him there. The lifeguard asked if I was going to swim and I said no because of the conditions. The speedo man said he was going to swim and started asking me about distances, like, How far from Whiterock to the pier? I asked him if he was an experienced open ocean swimmer and he replied" English, Irish, and Catalina channels" as well as others. He was attempting Ocean Sevens and only had Molokai and the Japanese Island channel to accomplish that. He said his daughter was going to meet him at four so he was going to swim for about three and a half hours. In he went swimming towards White Rock on the roughest day this year.!
I went home and googled him. His name is Steve Walker, he swims with the South End Rowing Club in S.F. He just released a new book, "Where the crazy people Swim". So, after three hours I returned to the life guard stand, he had come in, drank some water, ate a couple of power bars and continued swimming! When he finished, an hour later. he took a hot shower at the Yacht Club and I snapped this picture! We shot the bull and his daughter came and picked him up. He is on his way to San Pedro for the Catalina Channel Banquet and also the Rough Water Swimming Gala!
We traced his swim on a chart in the yacht club, a little over eight miles on the Gnarliest day of the year!
Please forward to all Dolphins,
Pete Kelley
p.s. The big black dolphin passed in front of the life guard stand, in the surf, 5 minutes before he finished. You can purchase his book on Amazon.
I wish that I had shown up so I could have met him.
niel
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