Sea Monkey Challenge Update
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. “We had 5 ocean swims in the inaugural [Seal Beach] Sea Monkey Challenge during October,” said Sea Monkey Doug Garland. “The first question people ask us is always about the water temperature. The good news is that the ocean temperatures are still 5 to 7ºF warmer than normal.
For this month, the water temperature has been around 70ºF (21ºC). In the last 2 weeks, the air temperature has been more of a factor as the air temperature is in the mid-50ºF’s in the morning. I know it is a lot colder elsewhere in the world and it will get colder here too, but this was our first hint that summer is ending in Southern California.
Water conditions were great for 3 out of 5 swims. The water was perfectly calm. We were swimming on a glassy surface with views of the sunrise.”
That was in contrast with the inaugural swim of the season. “Our first swim in October was rough in that you would turn to breathe and all you get is a mouth full of water. Today’s swim was a little more challenging in that the current was swirling so it felt like you were going against the current in both directions. There is a winter storm coming in this weekend so we were getting northwest swells which may have caused the currents.”
18 people have committed to swim at least once per month throughout the year in the Sea Monkey Challenge. This is the list to date:
* Doug Garland
* Katie Rowe
* Ronney Daschbach
* Sean Oatey
* Michael Kilpatrick
* Mark Fell
* Rick Gregory
* Gerry Parker
* Loren Wright
* Amy Ashton
* Mary Brain
* Hank Wise
* Peter Knapp
* Marissa Carrillo
* John Gurich
* Lyle Nalli
* Alex Merrill
* Page Hensley
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.
Latest posts by Steven Munatones (see all)
