It's An Experience Like No Other

It’s An Experience Like No Other

Steven Munatones 01/04/2010 Open Water Swimming No Comment
Commander Vicki Fischbeck is one tough lady.

A retired navy pilot, she flew numerous aircraft over her career, from the single-engine T-34 trainer to multi-engine transports, retiring with 4,600 flying hours and 250 (dangerous) aircraft carrier landings for United Airlines, the Embry-Riddle Center at Naval Air Station North Island and UPS.

But she blushes over with excitement when she talks about swimming.

She was part of an all-female relay team that swam across the English Channel. As she explains, “When someone asked me, ‘Why on earth did you want to swim the English Channel?’, my response to them was, ‘I didn’t know exactly why I wanted to swim the English Channel, until I did. Now I know why I swam the English Channel, it’s an experience like no other.”

“I trained with two other women here in San Diego, California. We found the Pacific Ocean to be perfect for our English Channel challenge. I am not a strong swimmer, but after a few lessons with Total Immersion, I had a renewed sense of confidence and a little bag of tools. I held up my part of the team with flying colors when we finished in 13 hours and 35 minutes. We completed our relay swim of the Channel n August 2009 with Liz Fry as our team leader and swimmer extraordinaire!”

Vicki and Liz were joined by Nancy McCoy Blair, Dani Grady, Peggy Gaskill and Margaret Peterson (shown above in pink, ages 47-53) who collecitvely dedicated their relay swim in honor of cancer survivors while raising funds for San Diego County Cancer Navigator, a free advocacy and information service for the public.

Copyright © 2009 by Steven Munatones
Steven Munatones
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