Throw Me In The Ocean
History
Swimming the Straight of Juan de Fuca: Andrew’s Account of Preparing for an Unprecedented International Channel Crossing
Tomorrow morning, Andrew Malinak will set off swimming from Vancouver Island (Canada) to a beach on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula (USA). The water will be cold and the conditions challenging, to put it lightly. For some perspective, understand this: crossing the Straight of Juan de Fuca is intimidating to boats, and only 8 swimmers have ever … Continue reading
Crossing Lake Washington 20 Years Later
I know Seattle well. I was born there, for starters. My childhood home in the Mt. Baker neighborhood was the only home I knew until I moved away for college. I grew up with a best friend down the street with whom I did and shared everything, even parents. It was a different time, the … Continue reading
on the Shoulders of Swimmers
Humans (and proto-humans) may have been running long distances for the last two million years, but swimming far is a modern pursuit. Shoulders often fatigue and become injured when put through the demands of long-distance open water swimming, but can we blame them? How long have humans been swimming this over-head “freestyle” anyway? Shoulder problems … Continue reading
Not Until I Circle Manhattan: Why the English Channel Can Wait
I met a bunch of English Channel alumni and aspirants in April 2011 in Malta, where I completed my first 6-hour swim. There I was, the lone American among mostly Brits, learning to tackle the cold and persevere through the mental games and physical pain of swimming farther than it seems like one should. The … Continue reading
Why is a “pool mile” not an “actual mile”?
If you are not a swimmer, you may not be aware of the fact that swimmers in the US swim for 1650 yards and call it a mile. If you are a swimmer in the US, you may not be aware of the fact that what you are calling a mile, is not actually a … Continue reading
My Father’s Ocean
My dad, Michael Rosen, was born and raised on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, with little exposure to nature. He escaped New York—his story went—on a plane to Seattle only moments after sitting for his final Fordham Law exam. The story’s punch line: he witnessed from above, just after take-off, the “grass” in Yankee Stadium receiving … Continue reading
About Me
I learned to swim as a wee one from my dad, who didn't really swim himself, but was tall enough and encouraging enough to send me back and forth to the side of a pool. There were also the terrifyingly wonderful trips on his shoulders out into crashing ocean surf, which instilled in me a fear and respect for the rising and falling, tempestuous beast, on whom he repeatedly admonished us kids to never, ever turn our backs. Read more...
Throw Me In The Ocean 