Patti Bauernfeind, the world record holder (10:38) for the Lake Tahoe crossing, is attempting a Monterey Bay Swim on August 21st.

To date, Cindy Cleveland is the only person to successfully swim the 23 miles (37K) across the Bay – just south of San Francisco – in 1980.

The water is cool – 56°F (13°C) – and can whip up tremendous turbulence with strong winds and an amazing amount of marine life from seals to jellyfish.

“There are a lot of amazing creatures that thrive in Monterey Bay including the nettle jellyfish. They have been swarming in unanticipated numbers over the last few years. The jellies may be the biggest challenge of the swim,” said Patti, a marketing manager for Taleo Corporation.

“I doing the swim as part of a fundraising effort for the Three Cups of Tea. My goal is to help raise money towards a goal of US$50,000 to build a school in Afghanistan. I volunteer tutoring Afghan refugee kids in the San Francisco Bay area. I know first hand what kids in Afghanistan have suffered through and education is the key to a life of hope and peace.”

Patti, the world record holder for swimming across Lake Tahoe, works full-time, but has enough time to help others in a cold-water solo challenge across Monterey Bay.

With less than a month to go, Patti’s training is going well. “I’m building up to 50K per week during the last 3 weeks with a long swim of 20K+ every other weekend. I include strength training and yoga into my swim training, but not as much as I’d like. I train with the San Ramon Livermore Valley team under Rich Thornton. We focus a lot on balance (long and short sets with no pull buoy, just a strap and paddles). He also has me focused on getting a cruise pace as close to a fast pace as possible without accelerating my heart rate.”

After focusing on the fundamentals in the pool, Patti balances her training with open water sessions. “I spend a third of my water time in open water. I get in as much cold water swimming as possible so I train in San Francisco bay and Monterey Bay. I focus a lot on what I eat and supplements. I had a metabolic type test and essential minerals test done through Bioletics and adjusted what I eat. It has made a huge difference in how I feel especially after 20K+ swims. I add amino acid to all my drinks throughout the day, including during my training swims which also has made a big difference.”

We’ll drink to that.

For more information on Patti’s swim, go here.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones