Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. The media is writing articles about world surfing champion Mick Fanning returning to Jeffreys Bay in South Africa where he was attacked by a shark last year [see New York Times article here and a vide of his shark encounter above]. While it takes a lot of courage for a surfer to enter the very waters where
When SEALs Stand Up To Sharks Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Scott Zornig of the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association occasionally encourages qualified marathon swimmers to think about swimming from San Clemente Island to the California mainland, a 52-mile rough water swim that was pioneered in 2012 by Tina Neill who took 28 hours
The Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum promotes, preserves, and perpetuates Hawaiian aquatic sports for the future by celebrating the achievements of pool and open water swimmers, divers, water polo athletes, and by sponsoring aquatic exhibits and performances. The Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Hawai'i Swimming Legacy Project founded in 2002 with
There are well-established and well-known reasons why open water swimmers should stay together while out in the ocean or any body of water. But there may be another reason. And that reason Michael Spalding and Linda Kaiser instinctively knew when they have been jointly the object of a shark's fancy while swimming channels in Hawaii: stick
A cookiecutter shark took a bite out of Hawaiian channel swimmer Michael Spalding when he was swimming from the Big Island of Hawaii to Maui. In the middle of the night, Spalding was initially hit in the sternum and then rolled over on this back. The next moment, the deep-water cookiecutter shark came up again and took a round mound of flesh from his
Is it genetic or is it environmental? Is it nature or is it nurtured? Why is it that I think of sharks when I am swimming in the ocean, far from shore? What brings them to mind? What causes the thought to suddenly pop into my head? Alone with my thoughts with my head facing downwards, I occasionally ask myself, "What do I do if I see a shark? What do I
Swimmers and the media talk about currents, jellyfish, waves, extreme water temperatures, and rough conditions when they discuss open water swimming. The inherent risks in the open water, whether during a short 1-mile swim or during a longer marathon swim, are well-known and well-documented. Of all the world's open water swimmers, Michael Spalding of Maui
