Rough, Remarkable, Renowned Rottnest Rewarded

The Rottnest Channel Swim Association was inducted as an Honor Organization in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame ceremonies at the United Nations.

The Rottnest Channel Swim Association has conducted over two decades of 19.7K solo and relay crossing of the Rottnest Channel in Western Australia and is truly one of the world's greatest open water swimming spectaculars with so many swimmers, so many boats, so much interest and passion for the sport.

Formed in 1989, the Rottnest Channel Swim Association priorities are to observe and authenticate people who swim the famed Rottnest Channel, promote safety, advise and encourage swimmers wanting to make an attempt as well as gathering and preserving historical data from the crossings.

Nearly 25,000 individuals have been certified by the Rottnest Channel Swim Association to have swum the channel as solo and relay swimmers since 1956. This was the acceptance speech of Raymond Yong, President of the Association:

"The Rottnest Channel Swim Association is deeply honoured to be recognised for induction as an Honoree Club into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.

Whilst we regret not being able to attend the presentation, dinner and celebrations in New York, we are with you in spirit.

We wish you a wonderful evening and thank you once again for your very kind recognition of the work undertaken by our Association in hosting and promoting our local and somewhat iconic open water channel crossing – a 19.7K crossing of the Indian Ocean, from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island in Western Australia.

If any of you are ever in our part of the world, drop in and say ‘hello’! We’d love to see you. And finally, our thanks go to Shelley Taylor-Smith, an Australian swimming icon in her own right, for accepting the award on our behalf."

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Thoughts In The Open Water

Celeste Jacroux of CROWS - Colorado Represents Open Water Swimming - crafted a clever haiku:

Triathletes beware
Your sleek and shiny wetsuit
Has no GPS

Right, left, right, left, right
I chart my course to avoid
Oops, swam over you

Rest on the sandbar
Gazing out to the far side
Leave it to swimmers

Hot mid-summer days
Chatfield is warm bathwater
Yet there are wetsuits

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Blue Green Can Wipe Out Gold, Silver And Bronze

First, Facebook messages started to report that the Serpentine has reached 20°F (68°C).

Then, the London Evening Standard reported that Serpentine's poisonous algae puts 2012 London Olympics events in jeopardy.

According to the publication, "...tests have found blue-green algae in the lake...swimmers are being warned they may suffer skin rashes, eye irritation, vomiting, diarrhea and fever if they swallow the contaminated water, which can kill dogs and other animals. The algae, which occurs naturally most summers, could reappear next August for the men's and women's triathlons, which include a 1.5K swim, and the marathon swimming races."

It would be a real shame if the location were not able to be used for the upcoming Olympic 10K Marathon Swim test event and the 2012 London Olympics triathlon and 10K Marathon Swim, but without a doubt the London Olympic Organizing Committee have arranged for alternative locations.

Fortunately, Olympic 10K Marathon Swim manager Colin Hill has experience with these situations as he had to previously cancel England's largest open water swim due to blue-green algae bloom that occurred in Windermere when the temperatures increased. And, whether the 10K swim is in the Serpentine or elsewhere, it is going to be a race for the ages.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Studying The Shark Attack On Mike Spalding

The attack on Mike Spalding during his Alenuihaha Channel swim from the island of Hawaii to Maui in the state of Hawaii by a cookiecutter shark was the focus of a study co-authored by researchers including Randy Honebrink of the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources, Robert Buch of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, and physician Peter Galpin of Maui Memorial Hospital.

The study of the first cookiecutter shark attack on a human in history.

It appears in the July edition of Pacific Science warns that swimmers entering the cookiecutter’s range of tropical ocean waters may be considered prey.

As Mike found out, cookiecutter sharks feed near the water's surface at night with unique jaws that specialize in scooping out a piece of flesh, leaving victims with a crater-like wound.

"Not only is it painful, but it presents a difficult circumstance for recovery in the sense that there has to be plastic surgery to close the wound and you have permanent tissue loss," said co-author George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. "It’s not as scary as 'Jaws,' but it’s very different from any other kind of attack we have in the International Shark Attack File because of the size of the shark and the modus operandi."

Mike appeared on Open Water Wednesday and explained the attack first-hand.

Mike was apparently the victim of a unique hunting method of the cookiecutter sharks. He reported seeing squid before the attack. The scientists state that cookiecutters are bioluminescent like squid. They believe the sharks may use this bioluminescence to hide among squid while larger fish prey on the squid. The cookiecutters then attack the larger fish as they extract a bit of tissue from their victims.

Photo shows Mike Spalding in the hospital recovering after the attack.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Andrew Smilley Wins World Summer Games First Division

Under beautiful conditions - blue skies, clear water, light, cooling breeze in the peaceful Aegean Sea, Andrew Smilley of the Caymen Islands led the field of 35 athletes from 19 countries at the World Summer Games 1.5K open water swim from nearly start to finish.



After Wesley Klumper (17) of the Netherlands jumped out to a quick lead, Andrew and a pair of Koreans - Dong Han Kim and Jin Yong An - caught up and started to blaze a fast pace that they never relinquished.

Andrew gradually used his navigational IQ developed in the Cayman Islands to comfortably win the first division in 22:00.77. He never swam off-course and took the straight-line tangents from buoy to buoy in the two-loop rectangular course. Don Hang (23:04.78) and Jin Yong (23:26.69) were second and third respectively.

Cornelia Fowler of South Africa, her own skills honed at the Midmar Mile in her home country, similarly took it out and held her pace to win comfortably in 27:22.64. Elisabeth Mansoor of the Netherlands was the second-fastest women in 28:31.56 with Nadja Tonnesen of Denmark just behind in 28:35.62.

What was so amazing and beautiful to see is the tears of joy and appreciation that were shed at the end of the race. These athletes were so filled with gratitude of the opportunity to showcase their talents to the world that some of them broke down at the finish. Through their welled-up eyes, they waved and smiled broadly at the appreciative crowd who openly shared their joyful emotions at the celebration of open water swimming excellence and international camaraderie.

It was certainly a day to rehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifmember. Special Olympics CEO Tim Shriver who was onshore during the race was similarly touched, "Those athletes were great. What a wonderful competition. I was very impressed with them."

The final times of the athletes were as follows:

Andrew Smilley (Cayman Islands) 22:00.77
Dong Han Kim (Korea) 23:04.78
Jin Yong An (Korea) 23:26.69
Joshua Timbs (Australia) 23:47.80
Eduardo Rodriguez (Guatemala) 26:25.64
Wesley Klumper (Netherlands) 26:31.86
Matthias Attard (Malta) 27:15.33
Mattetyahu Oren (Israel) 27:20.80
Cornelia Fowler (South Africa) 27:22.64
Ricardo Aponte (Puerto Rico) 27:38.44
Guy Wartikowsky (Israel) 28:05.31
Matthijs van Doorn (Netherlands) 28:27.48
Elisabeth Mansoor (Netherlands) 28:35.62
Nadja Tonnesen (Denmark) 28:31.56
Javier Mejia (Honduras) 28:38.30
Dylan Coop (Australia) 28:52.24
Eric Marchetti (Italy) 29:37.43
Heriberto Torres (Puerto Rico) 29:43.69
Suk Il Hwang (South Korea) 20:11.03
Efrain Gomez (Puerto Rico) 30:47.12
Wenda Schippers (Netherlands) 30:50.60
Alex Vaca (Ecuador) 31:27.21
Gregory Black (Australia) 31:28.32
Adriana Newton (Puerto Rico) 32:58.48
Mr. Mitchel Lopez (Curacao) 33:40.30
Samuel Silver (USA) 34:01.99
Flor Mendez (El Salvador) 34:25.23
Aisling Beacom (Ireland) 35:29.17
Alexandros Panagiotou (Greece) 39:00.85
Georgios Papadopoulos (Greece) 38:19.65
Opal Alon (Israel) 38:29.29
Ela Zohar (Israel) 38:41.77
Wensley Gysbertha (Curacao) 39:14.65
Michalis Kokkoris (Greece) 39:48.16
Zisis Dimoshakis (Greece) DNF

Note: the women started 2 minutes and 20 seconds behind the men. The times listed above for the women include this 2 minute 20 second start delay.

Photos courtesy of Bruckner Chase here.

Additional photos from the Dutch team here.

Video courtesy of the Dutch national team.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source