A Special Dedication...

In three weeks I will be in California to swim from Catalina Island to the mainland of California. I'm looking forward to this very challenging swim. Yesterday, a crew meeting was held with my brother Bill and his wife Jean to discuss the logistics of my swim.   My brother Bill requested a special dedication of my Catalina Swim to our brother Johnny who died at the age of 17 in a very tragic high school accident many years ago. Johnny was an outstanding young man. A leader. He was the captain of the Westbrook High School track team.  Two weeks before his untimely death, Johnny had broken the record for the State of Maine 2 mile run. Also, Johnny was a morning newspaper carrier delivering the Portland Press Herald before going to school each day.  On Sundays, he was an altar boy assisting with  morning mass at St.Hyacinths Church .  He had a wonderful sense of humor and always spoke very highly of everyone he met. He had a great sense of pride in family and country. It was an extremely painful loss for our family.   I am dedicating my swim of Catalina in his memory.

California or bust!

I will be resuming my swim training tomorrow for my next big swim.  I will attempt to swim from Catalina Island (21 miles off the coast of California) to Long Beach, California.  I'm scheduled to start my swim on October 17th late evening.  My crew will consist of my brother Bill and his wife Jean.  My boat pilot is John Pittman of Outrider Sportfishing. Also, I have hired expert kayaker Beth Barnes of California to help navigate my swim.   I am not underestimating the difficulty of swimming San Pedro Channel. It will certainly be a difficult swim....I will be looking forward to the challenge.