Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Swimming Smörgåsbord In New York City

While John Van Wisse was winning the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim with Richard Clifford as his kayaker, he was enjoying smörgåsbord en route to his 7 hour 10 minute and 35 second victory.

"I ate a salad sandwich this morning," said John minutes before the race started.

"I always have butterflies in my stomach." But, he seemed to make up for throughout the day. "I ate Gu gel packs, marshmellows - the big kind - bananas, Gatorade, aspirin and those Starbucks frappuccino® drinks."

While it is obvious that John burned through a lot of calories while he maintained a steady 78 stroke-per-minute pace throughout the day, it was his kayaker Richard who had to manage this aquatic deli. "Yeah, I would take my food and drink, then take 7 or 8 strokes backstroke to stretch out before starting over again, mate," John explained.

Additional coverage of this event at Swimming World Magazine.

Photo of John Van Wisse in orange swim cap and his support team by Vladimir Duthiers.

No comments: