Mark's Mission - Part 4

Mark Warkentin of the Santa Barbara Swim Club was asked a series of questions prior to departing for Beijing for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim. Here are his first-person answers:

Q3. Your teammates are an incredible bunch: Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol and Ryan Lochte. Do they ever talk about open water swimming with you? If so, what do they ask you? Do you think any of those guys would be great open water swimmers?

A3. Yeah, they ask me questions. They have a sort of morbid curiosity about open water swimming. Everyone wants to know: why do you do it? What do you think about? How do you make the Olympics? How do you break from the pack? Those guys are all so talented, they can be successful in whatever distance they swim, but I think they are going to stick with the pool. [wide smile]

Photo of Mark screaming with joy after winning the USA Swimming National 25K Championships in Ft. Myers, Florida.