Clearing The Water In Channel Swims

Ron Collins, founder of the 24-mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim commented on our previous story on the Greatest Fears of Open Water Swimming.

Ron asked about the bottom and how many injuries are caused by open water swimmers cutting themselves on a sharp rock or on coral as they get in or out of the water?

He observed on how people fear events that have no - or little - chance of happening versus at common injury in the real world.

He has a point.

How many people have successfully completed the English Channel or the Catalina Channel - fighting currents, ocean swells and hypothermia hour after hour, occasionally surrounded by sharks and frequently stung by jellyfish, pushing themselves to the outer limits of human endurance in the water...only to safely arrive to the distant shore - and they get cut or hurt on the rocks at the very end of their swim?

We have seen cuts, bruises and, on one extreme occasion, broken ribs as the athlete was navigating between the rocks.

According to the rules of the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation, "For a swim to be officially recognized, a swimmer must cross the channel from the natural connecting shore, touch the opposite natural connecting shore and clear the water."

According to the English Channel governing body, the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation, "For a swim to be officially recognised, the swimmer must walk into the sea from the shore of departure, swim across the English Channel (i) to finish on dry land, or (ii) to touch steep cliffs of the opposite coast with no sea-water beyond. Swimmers may finish in harbour water provided they land as in (i)."

According to the English Channel governing body, the Channel Swimming Association, "For a Swim to be officially recognised, the swimmer must enter the sea from the shore of departure, swim across the English Channel and finish on dry land, or touch steep cliffs of the opposite coast with no seawater beyond. Swimmers may finish in harbour water provided they land as noted above."

According to the Gilbraltar Strait Swimming Association (Asociación Para El Cruce A Nado Del Estrecho De Gibraltar), "The crossing starts from the boat located at Tarifa Island and the swimmer must touch the rocks. The crossing will end at a natural point on the Morroccan coast or, in the case where that may be a difficult point to access by the boats, when the event is considered to have been sufficiently carried out, touching morrocan land or entering in a natural bay."

The Tsugaru Channel, the Cook Strait, swims in the Great Lakes of North America, the North (Irish) Channel, the Molokai Channel and other channels in the Hawaiian Islands follow the English Channel rules - whether the swimmers have to navigate around rocks, jetties, cliffs and/or large surf.

So for channel swimmers to successfully and safely achieve their goals, it is always best to "clear the water" with the same mindset of care onshore as is utilized between shores.

Upper photo shows Laurin Weisenthal finishing on the French shore after an English Channel swim of 8:33. Lower photo shows Mackenzie Miller finishing up on the Oahu shore after a Molokai Channel swim of 14:52.

Copyright © 2009 by Open Water Source

Mackenzie Miller's Memories Of Molokai

12 swimmers have successfully crossed the Molokai Channel: Keo Nakama (in 1961), Harry Huffaker (1967 and 1972), Johnathan Ezer (1974), Mike Miller and Ian Emberson (1979), Robin Isayama (1994), Forrest Nelson (twice) and Bill Goding (2006), Mike Spalding, Kelly Gleason and Linda Kaiser (2007) and Mackenzie Miller (2009, a few days ago).

We asked Mackenzie about her 26-mile (42 km) swim in 14 hours and 52 minutes:

Daily News of Open Water Swimming: You started at 3 am. Were you afraid swimming at night in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?
Mackenzie: Not at all, it was very calming and the water temperature was perfectly warm. It was actually very relaxing.

Daily News of Open Water Swimming: Did you see any marine life?
Mackenzie Miller: Yes, tiny weird jellyfish-looking things and bioluminescents.


Daily News of Open Water Swimming: Was it scary at all?
Mackenzie Miller: I had a fear I wouldn't be able to finish at Sandy's Beach and thought I would have had to swim even more to finish elsewhere...which would have been Makapu'u or Hanauma Bay. But I didn't have to and I was very happy when I finished. Something I really dreaded was swallowing a jellyfish. I know when a friend of our's swam Molokai in 2007, swallowed a box jellyfish and had to terminate her swim. Near the end when I was close to Sandy's, I started getting stung all over my body, about 5 times, including my face and I knew if i swallowed a jellyfish I most likely would not be able to finish the swim. I feared not finishing when I was already that close.

Daily News of Open Water Swimming: What did you feel like walking out of the water at Sandy's Beach?
Mackenzie Miller: After having to wait for three huge waves to pass before being able to walk out was not fun. But when I finally walked out, I couldn't believe it. I was in shock but SO HAPPY that I did it. I was also in shock with how many people were there to see me finish.

Daily News of Open Water Swimming: What was the hardest part of your swim?
Mackenzie Miller: When I only had three miles to go, the intersections of currents between Koko Head and Makapu'u kicked in hard. I felt like I wasn't moving anywhere. This was when the swim was entirely about my mental state. It literally takes over. My dad said at this point, "Mother Nature is going to test her."

Daily News of Open Water Swimming: How did you get over this part of the swim?
Mackenzie: I kept yelling at myself, "I gotta make this. I can see the beach, it's right there. So many people are here for you. You trained so hard you're not giving up now. You're so close." And I also kept praying and kept saying "Lord stay with me this is when I need you...help me get through this please..." and I did.

Daily News of Open Water Swimming: What did you eat and drink on the swim?
Mackenzie Miller: I was eating chocolate PowerBars, had an apple banana and Gatorade straight or watered down. When I got to my 12th hour, I was starving and my dad asked me, "Do you want Gatorade or PowerBar?" I asked, "Is there any grilled chicken sandwiches left?" He said, "Yup." I asked, "Can I please have that? I'm so hungry - I am sick of PowerBars and Gatorade" So he threw a grilled chicken sandwich to me. I got about half of it down with bread before the waves sogged the bread down. Then I just threw the bread in the ocean and downed the rest of that chicken. It tasted AMAZING.

Daily News of Open Water Swimming: Looking back, did you think you were adequately prepared for your swim?
Mackenzie Miller: Yes, I believed I was ready, physically and mentally.

Daily News of Open Water Swimming: Did you have a stand-up paddler?
Mackenzie Miller: No, I didn't, the conditions that I had would have been very hard for a stand-up paddler. Ian Emberson, who swam the Molokai Channel with my dad 30 years ago, actually paddled on a surfboard with me all night.

A post-swim interview with Miller can be seen here.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Mackenzie Miller Makes Molokai

19-year-old Mackenzie Miller of Kailua, Hawaii became the youngest person to successfully cross the 26-mile (42K) Molokai Channel (Kaiwi Channel) in the Hawaiian islands today.

Departing at 3 am from Molokai Island, Mackenzie enjoyed reasonable conditions until she was past halfway in the Molokai Channel. Towards the second half of her solo effort, she faced the Hawaiian trade winds towards the late afternoon, but finished in 14 hours and 45 minutes on Sandy's Beach on Oahu.

Mackenzie became the youngest person to cross the Molokai Channel, a challenging stretch of water in the middle of the Pacific. In an interesting note, her father, Michael Miller, completed the same swim in 1979.

Photos demonstrate Mackenzie as she fought the surf to complete her swim on Oahu. A post-swim interview with Mackenzie can be seen here.

One-Way Double-Crossing of the English Channel

Mike and Mackenzie Miller of Honolulu, Hawaii are within a day of becoming the first father and daughter duo to simultaneously swim across the English Channel.

In particular, Mike has a daunting challenge. He not only has to finish his own swim, but he will also be thinking of his 17-year-old daughter who will start at the same time and location under the guidance of her own separate escort boat.

As with most England-to-France crossings, Mike and Mackenzie are going to follow a general “Z” pattern across the English Channel. They will start off between 2-6 am, swimming with a flood tide (i.e., an incoming tide that flows from the North Atlantic to the North Sea through the Channel) and hoping to catch an ebb tide somewhere mid-way in the Channel. If all goes well, they will catch another flood tide that will help push them north to the French coast. If all does not go well, then their pilots will make adjustments and they’ll have to swim longer than their goal time of 10-12 hours.

While Mike has a wealth of marathon swimming experience with successful swims such as a 16 hour and 50 minute crossing of the 26-mile Molokai Channel, a 10 hour and 23 minute crossing of the 21-mile Catalina Channel, a 3 hour and 50 minute crossing of the 9-mile Maui Channel, and an 8 hour 3 minute circumnavigation of the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island, Mackenzie’s longest two swims have been training swims: 7 hours on the north shore of Hawaii and nearly 7 hours in the 58SºF waters of San Francisco Bay.

You can follow Mike and Mackenzie as they swim across the English Channel in real time. You can log on to Shipasis and look for their two escort boats, the Pace Arrow and the Roco, slowly heading across the English Channel.

This Shipasis link is a website tracking ships in real-time in the English Channel. It may hard to pinpoint the Pace Arrow and Roco, but you can cursor over a ship to receive information on the vessel name, direction and speed.

Mike and Mackenzie are raising funds and awareness for the XTERRA Foundation and the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund.

The XTERRA Foundation provides support to the Smile Train that arranges free cleft palate surgery to thousands of poverty stricken children and supports athletes in their endeavor to aggressively compete in various athletic events while overcoming their own personal physical challenges.

Funds donated to the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund will help build the new Pearl Harbor Memorial Museum and Visitor Center, one of the most popular national parks in the country. The newly rebuilt facility will honor the men and women who were at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Like Father, Like Daughter

Mike Miller and his daughter Mackenzie have a simple goal: "Walk in. Swim. Walk out."

Among the dozens of individuals planning to swim across the English Channel this summer, an adventurous pair just left Honolulu to attempt the English Channel. Mike Miller, a mild-mannered financial advisor, and his 18-year-old daughter are on their way to the White Cliffs of Dover when they will attempt to become the first father-daughter tandem to cross the English Channel.

"When you swim a channel like this you have one objective and that's to finish the swim," said Mike who knows well. Mike has shown his open water versatility by crossing the treacherous 27-mile Molokai Channel in Hawaii and the Catalina Channel as well as racing around New York in the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, 25K races and the 9.6-mile Maui Channel.

In addition to training over 1,250 miles, largely in the warm tropical waters of Hawaii, the Millers trained in the sub 60-degree waters of San Francisco Bay where they both completed their requisite 6-hour training swim.

"I'll never forget Mackenzie jumping in and having trouble and asking, 'What are we doing this for?'" said Mike. The answer was easy: they are raising funds for the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund and XTERRA Foundation, an organization that helps disadvantaged kids.

Click here for an interview by Mike.

We'll follow Mike and Mackenzie as they swim across the English Channel by locating them in real-time at English Channel Map.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association