It Was SO VERY Close Throughout The Kaiwi Channel Swim
“It was a good race. I am still shocked by the closeness,” describes Bill Ireland who was on the winning Veterans team in the 28-mile Ka’iwi Channel Swim.“The difference [between the 9:53 and 9:56 final times] was incredibly small. I assumed the two teams would have been an hour apart. The difference was about the equivalent of one tenth of a second per 50. It was real tight.” Co-race director Steve Haumschild saw the teams battle it out all day long, trading the lead like swimmers in a professional 10 km race.
“The teams traded the lead so many times, we could barely keep up. This was an incredible showcase of athleticism by both teams in the ultimate open water swimming proving grounds. Towards the end, both teams stepped it up.”
Photo courtesy of Kaia Hedlund shows The Veterans (Karen Schmidt, Amy Dantzler, Brent Blackman, Bill Ireland, Bruce Thomas, and Dianne Gleason) and The Youngsters (Terence Young, Brian King, Mitchell Degeus, Jamison Grove, Brittney Yim, and Erin Yamamoto) on Sandy Beach at the finish. Videos of various scenes across the Channel of Bones are posted here.
Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming
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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