Ned Denison and Ger Kennedy – and their ice swimming colleagues from Ireland to South Africa – train year-round in cold-water temperatures and, often, in rough water conditions. Swimming in the open water in Ireland and South Africa directly results in the Irish and South African swimmers becoming some of the most hardened and best acclimatized swimmers in the world to cold water and rough conditions.
While the water conditions in Southern California are not as difficult as in Cork or Cape Town, the local waters seem to be increasingly crowded with different marine life.
In addition to the Great White Sharks that are being increasingly numerous in the shallow coastal waters of Southern California (as documented by The Malibu Artist – see below), there are also an increasingly number of orca, lancetfish, and anglerfish sightings – with the possibility of sea pickles floating along the Pacific coastline [see photo of sea pickles above by Tiffany Boothe of Seaside Aquarium in Seaside, Oregon].
“That is pretty scary,” said Munatones. “I know humans are not on their menu, but just swimming in the same area as Great White Sharks, orcas that we now know feast on blue whales [that migrate in Southern California waters between May and October], lancetfish, and anglerfish is frankly scary – and now Catalina Channel swimmers may encounter floating sea pickles that can apparently grow to 20 meters. This is Mother Nature’s way to both intrigue me to look down towards the ocean’s depths – and also not look down for fear of what we might see. An orca, a lancetfish, an anglerfish, a sea pickle, a shark? I don’t know which one I would want to encounter least – they are all scary to see far out from shore.”
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.
