Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

FindingMyInnerFish — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 11:36:37 GMT

Originally posted by F'ueco Should I just wear one of my Alcatraz finisher medals at work? :D Actually I think leaving the competitor numbers on my arms is the way to go. People feel obligated to ask why the number 300 is written on my arm. Then I get to tell them about my slow swim over the weekend. Speaking of OW mile times, my goal is just to get it down to where my pool mile time was when I was swimming in college. Only 4 minutes to go. Oh yes, body markings are handy...altho I keep wondering if someone unfamiliar w/ open water swims will ask if I was in jail or some such ;) --altho. yesterday, I took a swim at my regular pool and had forgotten that my race no. still showed (more faintly but visible) on my arms. But by the time I finished swimming, no sign of it at all. So now I realize my pool is more effective than Lever2000 for erasing body markings. As for your finisher's medal... you can take the medal to work--My strategy: to hang some of my favorites up in visible places (although not on myself as they tended not to go well with my outfit of choice). ;) A finisher's medal I got from Philly's Broad Street Run also had a key ring. That has given me an excuse to carry it everywhere (took ribbon off and use it now as a key ring).

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:51:31 GMT

Should I just wear one of my Alcatraz finisher medals at work? :D Actually I think leaving the competitor numbers on my arms is the way to go. People feel obligated to ask why the number 300 is written on my arm. Then I get to tell them about my slow swim over the weekend. Speaking of OW mile times, my goal is just to get it down to where my pool mile time was when I was swimming in college. Only 4 minutes to go.

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

FindingMyInnerFish — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 09:48:05 GMT

Originally posted by F'ueco I wish I could have swum like Jake this morning. I did fine for the first half of the Donner Lake race, and then fell apart in the last mile. Perhaps next year I can improve that, and knock 30 minutes off my time so I can win a towel. :) But all in all, we could not have asked for better conditions. Water temp: 71 degrees, air temp: 75 (with a forecast high of 89), and the water was calm until the water skiers came out en masse. It's a bit of a distance from you, but try this race I just did yesterday: www.rainbowchannelchallenge.com/ EVERYONE gets a towel, and they're beautiful towels! Only you'd need to travel to NJ... A couple I knew brought their Lab to the race, but they said the dog hadn't much liked swimming...then suddenly seemed to take to the saltwater (had been very skittish in fresh water). However, the dog showed no interest in entering the race, even though at 5 years old, she'd still be in the age range for the children's 1/4 mile. ;)

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

FindingMyInnerFish — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 09:24:49 GMT

Originally posted by fatboy Dropping three minutes from your mile is impressive! Congratulations!! One advantage of the coffee mug is that it is alot easier to "casually" use it at work to brag a liitle about your race - tough to find a reason to bring a towel to the office Thanks--yah, taking a beach towel to the office would have a strange and possibly chilling effect on conversation. ;) Coffee cups also are a bit lighter and more portable...AND ... hold coffee, an essential nutrient! ;)OTOH, the beach towel is nice for bragging rights at the pool!

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

fatboy — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 05:51:19 GMT

Originally posted by FindingMyInnerFish Was a lot of fun! I did the mile race...I'm not quite up to the longer distance o.w. races just now, but I'm happy to say that I beat my previous open water mile time by almost three minutes! . Dropping three minutes from your mile is impressive! Congratulations!! One advantage of the coffee mug is that it is alot easier to "casually" use it at work to brag a liitle about your race - tough to find a reason to bring a towel to the office

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 05:37:49 GMT

Looks like a fun time. Which race(s) did you do? The thing with the DLS towels that makes them special is that they are the awards for the top 3 in each age group. But I can always use a new towel, after all, they are the most functional item in the universe. ;)

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

FindingMyInnerFish — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 04:39:35 GMT

Originally posted by F'ueco Looks like a fun time. Which race(s) did you do? The thing with the DLS towels that makes them special is that they are the awards for the top 3 in each age group. But I can always use a new towel, after all, they are the most functional item in the universe. ;) Was a lot of fun! I did the mile race...I'm not quite up to the longer distance o.w. races just now, but I'm happy to say that I beat my previous open water mile time by almost three minutes! (Still pretty slow, but getting there!) And although I finished second to last (caught the person just in front of me as we neared the end of the race), I won my a.g. by default...tough competition... moi, moi-meme, et je... but I prevailed. ;) (Good thing about being a 50something female in this area...sometimes our numbers are small enough so that an award occasionally comes my way...in both running and swimming). Got a coffee mug for my award, always a useful prize and it'll certainly come in handy...the towel was much prettier but I'm enough of a coffee drinker to always find uses for lidded mugs! :) Plus it says "first place" very prominently, so I can sip my java proudly.

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Sat, 06 Aug 2005 12:38:10 GMT

Originally posted by fatboy A little more research shows that Jake's entry fee was waived by the promoters www.south-end.org/.../jake-wiggle.shtml awwwwwwwww! That's a great article! Next time I sign up for a race, can I say I'm a dog??? :cool:

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Sat, 06 Aug 2005 07:17:39 GMT

I wish I could have swum like Jake this morning. I did fine for the first half of the Donner Lake race, and then fell apart in the last mile. Perhaps next year I can improve that, and knock 30 minutes off my time so I can win a towel. :) But all in all, we could not have asked for better conditions. Water temp: 71 degrees, air temp: 75 (with a forecast high of 89), and the water was calm until the water skiers came out en masse.

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

fatboy — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 11:58:38 GMT

A little more research shows that Jake's entry fee was waived by the promoters www.south-end.org/.../jake-wiggle.shtml

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

fatboy — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 11:29:35 GMT

Originally posted by Maryyyyyy Did Jake pay his entry fees for the race? :D I checked the results. He was entered with bib number 572 as Jake the Dog. No official finish time or place shown www.athleteslounge.com/.../results.php

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 16:49:50 GMT

I met Dave Horning the morning of this year's SharkFest, he mentioned his pup, since passed, that had done it something like 10 times. I was sorry to see all the national news media pick this up as the "first time a dog's ever" story. (and I gotta tell you, it really takes the the fire out of an "I swam Alcatraz" boast....so what? if a dog can do it... :)) Oh well......... So F'ueco - did you have to swim against the incoming or outgoing tide? Guess every swim is different, but I should have headed more to the left, sounds like you should have headed more to the right from another post.... Guess that's what makes it so fun. You never know. And congrats! Chris

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 14:56:10 GMT

I contacted the Associated Press and USA Today to let them know. ~SB Originally posted by kernow Perhaps you could contact them and let them know... I'm a stickler for accurate reporting. I think that its so cool that the pups can complete the race and actually outswim some humans. If I had a dog, I'd be gutted if s/he didn't want to swim with me.

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 14:13:03 GMT

Did Jake pay his entry fees for the race? :D

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

FindingMyInnerFish — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 11:57:08 GMT

My cat doesn't seem interested in swimming with me. ;) Seriously, pretty amazing! I think, though, that retriever type dogs are natural swimmers--bred to swim, in fact...but still, that's one loooong way for a dog to swim!

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

FindingMyInnerFish — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 11:14:52 GMT

Originally posted by Maryyyyyy Did Jake pay his entry fees for the race? :D Maybe not...the pic doesn't show him wearing a cap, and surely he'd have one if he'd paid the entry fee. ;) Plus, I bet he didn't get a t-shirt either. Oh, and no sign of body marking...although where you'd mark a dog's body, that's a good question....

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:18:44 GMT

Originally posted by Swimmer Bill I have news for the people who reported the story. Jake is not the first dog to do the Alcatraz swim. That title belongs to Summer, a female yellow lab. I'm not sure if Summer is still alive, but she retired sometime around 1998 and belonged to Dave Horning of EnviroSports. Summer did Alcatraz several times, and also did the Golden Gate Bridge swim a couple times. Summer also beat half of the humans. I have a picture of her somewhere... ~SB Perhaps you could contact them and let them know... I'm a stickler for accurate reporting. I think that its so cool that the pups can complete the race and actually outswim some humans. If I had a dog, I'd be gutted if s/he didn't want to swim with me.

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:13:49 GMT

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com Kernow, are those pigs swimmign? I was once told that gooats are so dumb they are the only animal that can't swim. Yep... The ways I figger it, if theys can do it, so can I :D

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 07:53:48 GMT

So F'ueco - did you have to swim against the incoming or outgoing tide? Guess every swim is different, but I should have headed more to the left, sounds like you should have headed more to the right from another post.... Guess that's what makes it so fun. You never know. And congrats! Chris I was trying to avoid what happened on my last Alcatraz Swim (to Crissy Field). In that one, I overshot the finish by about 200 yards and had to run up the beach to get to the finish line, adding perhaps a minute to my time. I ended up swimming against the end of the flood tide, so it wasn't too strong. But I kept inhaling mouthfuls of water; which slowed me down more than the tide alone would have. Next time I will try to aim better. I also had to save some energy for the Cruz Cruise the next morning. I'll make up for it on Saturday at Donner. :)

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 06:04:18 GMT

Frank - My sighting was good the entire swim.... until the last 200 yards :). I was not too far behind the buoy boat, so I started headed towards Transamerica, and slowly worked my way right. About 200 yards off the entrance, I was lined up with the left corner, where I thought I wanted to be, and I stopped paying attention. a minute or so later, I was below the Cables Crossing sign..... and moving. I had to sprint about 20 seconds to get out of the current and into the entrance. The distances should be nearly excactly the same if the start point is the same. I think SharkFest bills as 1.5 mi. because they show a very wide arc toward the Bay Bridge. Straight on, I've heard it's more like a mile Chris

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 06:04:08 GMT

Originally posted by Guvnah Hey, I am assuming that the dog did it without the advantage of a wetsuit that all the other swimmers had... Most of us were not wearing wetsuits, thank you very much. :p

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

fatboy — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 01:38:42 GMT

Chris, Even if the dog killed the bragging rights, it was still a fun swim. I saw a number of swimmers hung up on the right side of the pier at Sharkfest. Were you in that group? I was far enough left to avoid it but was surprised how far I did get pushed to the right at the entrance to Aquatic Park. Sharkfest was billed as 1.5 miles, will last weekend's swim was listed as 1.2 miles - were the courses really that different?

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 14:41:06 GMT

I have news for the people who reported the story. Jake is not the first dog to do the Alcatraz swim. That title belongs to Summer, a female yellow lab. I'm not sure if Summer is still alive, but she retired sometime around 1998 and belonged to Dave Horning of EnviroSports. Summer did Alcatraz several times, and also did the Golden Gate Bridge swim a couple times. Summer also beat half of the humans. I have a picture of her somewhere... ~SB

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

Former Member — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 11:44:26 GMT

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com Kernow, are those pigs swimmign? I was once told that gooats are so dumb they are the only animal that can't swim. Goats dumb? No way! Try to keep one penned up and you'll be amazed at what they can do to escape. They do stink, however. -LBJ

RE: Dog Beats Most in Swim from Alcatraz

mattson — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 05:23:34 GMT

Originally posted by F'ueco Here's me after the race: I was thinking that was a tough race for you, but then I found a "before" picture... You look much better after the race! ;)