That’s me and my beautiful niece Isabel. I am a ripe young age of fifty. She is fabulous at fifteen.
We’ve decided to join 798 crazy souls to compete in the 20th annual Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim. This is the swim the Anglin Brothers and Frank Lee Morris attempted in their successful escape from Alcatraz the night of June 12, 1962. I’m happy to say we didn’t have to break out of prison like the brothers and Morris.
I did the Escape from Alcatraz swim last year. It was a tough swim. I got picked up by an escort and redirected because I was heading for the Golden Gate Bridge, which was not good. If I missed the entrance to the Aquatic Park, I would not be able swim against the current to make it to the finish.
This year I thought it would be a lot more fun to swim it with Isabel. She’s an awesome swimmer, so I knew she would have no problem finishing strong. She was kind enough to “man up” to the challenge. As for me, well, I just wanted to finish without getting picked up by one of the rescue boats.
Race day. We’re ready! We got up early, suited up and headed for Starbucks. A little caffeine should make me go a little faster. If not, at least I would be awake for the entire event. Right?
Feeling strong…showing off a little.
Made it on the ferry…and so did Sunshine, and Suzie, and Mom and Dad. That was very good news.
Let’s do this. Our goal was to get off of the ferry in the middle of the pack. We didn’t want to go first because we would just be treading water waiting for the rest of the athletes. We definitely didn’t want to get off last for fear of missing the start. That is exactly what happened to me last year.
Touchdown! The water was surprisingly warm! A toasty 62-ish. Totally doable. Not too cold, and not too hot with our full wetsuits.
And we’re off…to the start anyway.
There are a lot of crazy people, see? We’re the one in the yellow swim caps. Okay, everyone is in a yellow cap.
Isabel makes it to the finish! She kicked some major butt! A mere 43 minutes later! And look how strong she looks! Just another walk in the park for her.
Woohooo!!!!!!!!! She’s pretty happy. Who wouldn’t be?
I made it too…I was happy to see the emergency dude, but didn’t really need him. Thank the dear Lord.
Woohooooo!!!!!!!! No rescue boat needed. Glory Hallelujah.
But wait, there’s more. Check out the video that Sunshine made.
Brother Chris, you’ve gotta man up next year.
Sloppy, Drunk & Delicious 