Michelle Macy of Oregon swims across Clarence Strait in Ketchikan on July 5 with Michael Schuler accompanying her in a kayak. Macy has been traveling to Ketchikan for the past four or five years to participate in the annual Pennock Island open-water swim.
Story last updated at 7/28/2010 - 12:11 pm
KETCHIKAN - The ocean in Southeast Alaska is cold. Very cold. Even in July, and especially when you're wearing nothing but a swimsuit.
"I've never actually been cold enough that I shivered while I swam," said Willie Schulz, recounting his July 5 attempt to swim from South Point Higgins Beach to Prince of Wales Island.
Schulz didn't quite make it - he plans to try again in August - but Michelle Macy of Beaverton, Ore., did, swimming about 14.5 miles across Clarence Strait, six-plus hours, in approximately 50-degree water.
The swim was something Schulz said has been on his to-do list for the past three years.
"It was something that I wanted to get done," he said. "It's a great swim for people who want to do a fairly long, cold swim."
And why would somebody want to do that?
"It's just a piece of water that nobody's crossed before," Schulz said, and while he didn't finish, he had a good time trying. "It was great. I just got cold, a lot colder than I thought I would get."
He said he wasn't mentally prepared for that level of cold, and he pulled out with about two hours of swimming remaining. He probably could have finished, Schulz said, but he "wouldn't have been in good shape."
Despite not finishing, Schulz said it was a good experience, and he was pleased that the route he had settled on worked well. He said he also was happy that Macy finished.
"I'm thrilled that, one, it was completed and, two, that it can be done; that it's a very doable swim," he said.
Macy has been traveling to Ketchikan for the past four or five years to participate in the annual Pennock Island open-water swim, which Schulz organized. She said by phone from Oregon that she had asked to join in the Clarence Strait swim whenever Schulz decided to give it a try.
Again, why swim in the frigid ocean?
"For me, there's just something about being in the water, testing your abilities," she said. "I really love the challenge of things like that."
Macy, who has swum the English Channel twice, plans to come back to Ketchikan in August for the Pennock swim. She said that, even compared to her other experiences in cold water, the Clarence Strait swim was very cold, which made the experience difficult.
"You couldn't have asked for better water conditions in terms of how choppy it was: flat calm and beautiful," she said. "It was just a lot colder than I had anticipated."
She said the water was between 49 and 52 degrees, and she generally swims in water between 54 and 64 degrees.
"I'm just thankful that Willie allowed me to participate in one of his swimming goals," Macy said. "I can't wait to hear when he finishes it in August."
She added that open-water swims like the one to POW are not possible without a support team.
On July 5, the two swimmers each had a boat and a kayak to accompany them. Schulz's support team was his parents, Mary and Tom Schulz, and Sue Doherty on the boat; and James Kleinschmidt in the kayak.
Macy's team was Joy and Vern Craig, and Elizabeth Einset in the boat; and Michael Schuler in the kayak.
Schuler stressed that the rules for open-water swimming forbid swimmers from touching or being touched by anything while they're in the water. For example, he said, Macy's swim would have been disqualified if he had reached out and touched her with his kayak paddle.
If the swimmer wants a drink of water or some kind of liquid nourishment, Schuler said, it has to be passed down from the support boat, attached to a pole by long rubber ties.
Schuler, who regularly rides his bike for long distances up very steep hills, said he was impressed with both swimmers' athletic ability.
"I've never been involved in something like that - constant effort," he said. "There's no coasting. No downhills."
The swimmers hit the water at 6:15 a.m. July 5, Schuler said, and Macy finished at about 1 p.m. Schulz and his team stuck with Macy's team to see her finish, Schuler said, and when it was over, everyone motored back to Ketchikan on the support boats. He said Macy's arrival on POW was low-key; no standing ovation from a waiting crowd or anything.
"An eagle flew over," Schuler recalled.
Schulz said the Clarence Strait swim was the longest organized open-water swim in Alaska. Once he completes it himself, he said, "I'll probably start working on something longer."
Schulz said he has an idea for a relay around Revillagigedo Island, which would take three days of nonstop tag-team swimming. He said he likes the social aspect of swimming with other people.
"It's a challenge, physically, but it also can be just a great time," he said.
