My brother, Brad, has three Alcatraz crossings under his belt. Before he headed down to Santiago Chile to teach at Nido Elementary School, the Alcatraz Invitational was ‘our’ annual event.
Brad is a strong swimmer. We finished within seconds of each other at our first two events. After each swim we celebrated at Houston’s with the best prime rib sandwich around.
His third crossing was a different story.
We both wore wetsuits at the time and were constantly devising ways to avoid the inevitable wetsuit friction burn on the back of our necks. I tried vaseline, rash guards, even duck tape to protect my neck.
Brad came up with his own solution. He modified his suit by cutting away the neckline from the back of his neck down to the top his shoulder blades.
On race day, he expected a fast pain-free crossing. Instead, with each swim stroke the back of his modified wetsuit filled with water creating a parachute effect and slowing his swim. Also, the force of the water entering the wetsuit constricted the front neckline of the suit around his throat.
Due to chaos of the swim start and numbing effect of the cold water, Brad was unaware of the problem. All he knew was that he was barely moving and was quickly becoming exhausted. Brad called out, I swam back beside him.
He was obviously in distress. I encouraged him to keep swimming, thinking he was just freaking out and not used to the cold. I wondered if perhaps a micro current had a hold on him. Rather than signal for a boat ride back to shore, we made a pact in the middle of the bay to swim together until we reached the beach.
It seemed a lifetime before we entered Aquatic Park. Brad would take 8-10 strokes and then stop to rest. It was a really difficult finish and I really admire him for completing the swim. I’m not sure if he still has the wetsuit or not, although I do tease him about it every chance I get!
Oh yes - keeping with tradition, we made our way to Houston's after the event for a prime rib sandwich! Here is a picture of Brad and I and his beautiful wife Jennifer at Chile's verison of Aquatic Park - Zapallar. It is much warmer there, no wet suit needed!Also, I've asked Brad to post his version of the swim in the comments. Be sure to check back later.
