Elongate Is The Safest Style
Karen Rogers continues to prepare well for her upcoming 30-mile risk-filled swim from the Farallones Island to Aquatic Park near downtown San Francisco, scheduled for July 2nd. During one of her latest ocean practices, she swam 9 miles in 52.8°F (11.5°C) water for 3.5 hours starting at 5:00 am (see darkness below).“On my Farallons swim, I will have two kayakers in the water with me at all times. We have been instructed by Scott Anderson, a shark expert at the Point Reyes Bird Sanctuary on Southeast Farallon Island, to elongate our silhouette by having one kayak in front of me to the right. I will swim in their hip pocket and the second kayak close to me and to my left. This will give the appearance of a large silhouette from below and may detour the sharks from surfacing because they won’t recognize the shape.”
Besides training for one of the most treacherous swims on Earth, Karen also shares her love of open water swimming while working with Bob Roper and the Swim Neptune kids from Arizona. Bob and Karen help they escort 80 kids who live far away from the Pacific Ocean on a swim from Alcatraz Island to Aquatic Park and another 60 kids on a swim underneath the Golden Gate Bridge while raising over US$50,000 for charity. Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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