Swimming 41 Miles in Four Days

Swimming 41 Miles in Four Days: How 1 Year of Preparation Lead to a Journey thehealthyprimate.files.wordpress.com/.../screen-shot-2015-05-14-at-2-36-17-pm.jpg Last weekend I was invited to help my friend Danny Page "man the boats" for a race known as S.C.A.R. here in Arizona. Going into this my knowledge consisted of one thing, I would be on a boat all day. No idea what kind of boat or what my duties were to include. I did know it had something to do with helping swimmers cross Apache Lake. The name alone had me interested in what I was getting myself into. What I witnessed that day on the lake can only be described as pure amazement by the will power and the type of conditions the human body can endure. S.C.A.R. what's in a name? The 4 letters combined form an acronym that spell out the four lakes swimmers will tackle in an open water swimming competition over a 4 day period. S: Saguaro - 9.5 Miles C: Canyon - 9 Miles A: Apache - 17 Miles R: Roosevelt - 6 Miles Swimming from buoy line dam to dam on the Salt River system which represents 41 miles of open water swimming in what could easily be considered as some of the greatest views and fresh water on earth. "Oh I can swim 41 miles no problem" Think again as 47 athletes have trained for over a year to condition and prepare for the length, water and conditions of this event. Only 27 people out of 47 (57%) evidently completed the entire swim across all four lakes from beginning to end. Mark Sheridan is one of the swimmers, not just a swimmer - but one of the few who completed all 4 lakes. Mark hails from Sevenoaks in Kent, United Kingdom. He is a world class open water long distance competitor and remarkable athlete. Garnering the cherished British Long Distance Swimming Association's Swimmer of the Year in 2013. His post is a great reflection of his personal journey. From preparation, experience, and recommendations for anyone interested in doing this swim in the future. He shares his amazing story at the Healthy Primate Blog. Amazing to see my story from a volunteer to hearing this amazing story from someone who spent a year preparing gives you a completely different level of respect for the sport. Learn how Mark prepared and practiced for the event. Also his day by day journal is an amazing look into the eyes of a world class athlete on game day. Read the story here: thehealthyprimate.com/.../ Cheers! Kolby