Ion Lazarenco’s Experiences And Enthusiasm
Ion Lazarenco, a 35-year-old Moldavian-Irish citizen, revealed that his shoulder was very tender after his 23 km swim attempt from Bray to Wicklow in 2013. “I took it easy for a while, but since I’m back in Ireland in middle of July, I’ve been swimming nearly every day getting ready to swim for a fund-raising event for the local psychiatric clinic Lincara Centre.
Lazarenco trained along a mile-long stretch in Bray before he set off in a swim from Bray to Wicklow.
Piloted by local fisherman Austin Poynton, he swam well for the first 3 hours, but inexplicably he swam toward the Wicklow Mountain Head not to the Wicklow Harbour. The mistake took him way offshore where he had to swim through 2-3 foot waves. “It slowed me down a bit, but I kept on going, apart from the jellyfish stinging me nearly everywhere. My wife Angela got very seasick due to the rocking boat.”
The conditions worsened as time dragged on. As the tide turned, he was driven back from his goal. 22 km and 6 hours 3 minutes from the start, his struggle culminated in the last hour when his advancement slowed to a mere 300 meters. “That’s when I decided to call it off, but I am very happy with the swim. I would like to thank my pilot and the crew, It was a great experience and I couldn’t have done it without them. At that stage, I swam over 22 km by my Garmin Forerunner and 23.8 km by the boat GPS.”
His enthusiasm peaked rather than diminished. “I am planning on the Great Wicklow Swim in September with 60 other swimmers, from Bray to Greystones.”
Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association
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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