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08-05-2007, 02:15 PM
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#1
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SCAdian
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Francisco CA
Age: 42
Stats: 5'7", 212 lbs
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Jack has escaped from Alcatraz
Howdy Everyone
Just wanted to update folks on my Alcatraz swim that happened this morning.
Funny thing #1 We get on the boat to take us to the rock and I hear one of the crew say "I can't believe they didn't call this thing off, look at the waves coming in"
Funny thing #2 I start saying my hellos to fellow participants and notice that there are only 15 or 20 of us NOT wearing wet suits. I don't own one, and the guys who swam from the prison didn't so I thought I would give it a shot. People just looked at us and sighed, like they were watching someone go to the gallows.
Funny thing #3 We jump and start swimming like maniacs, and my wife {Dr the Black here on the forums} is so sea-sick that she starts losing her breakfast right in the water, while she is swimming, and she hardly misses a stroke (she is way way tougher then me, even though she owns a wet suit)
Funny thing #4 I was off course for a few hundred yards and they towed me back into the lane (slightly embarassing but not horrible as I still swam the whole distance just off course. But this one guy who got way out of the lanes refused to be towed back onto course and they had to physically hall him out when he finally got swept toward the bridge by the current. This guy was swearing so loud how he could make it that I could hear him over the surf.
Funny thing #5 I finally haul myself on shore and hear a little girl say "Mommy why is he in his underpants?" A phrase I have heard in the past but not by anyone so young. I was wearing trunks, and modest ones at that.
Funny thing #6 I get to my stuff and start chatting with some of the swimmers I know from the Dolphin club and from my swims in the aquatic park and they tell me that the condition were the worst they had seen in seven years.
In summation I made it, my wife made it in way way less time then it took me, and I will not be doing it again next year. Once is enough for bragging rights for the rest of my life
__________________
WWJB (what would Jesus bench)
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08-05-2007, 02:17 PM
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#2
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Eat your veggies!
Join Date: Mar 2004
Stats: 5'7", 127 lbs
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Um, Congrats. Why did that little girl not recognize that you were wearing bathing trunks?
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08-05-2007, 02:19 PM
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#3
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Liver Shot!
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Navarre, Florida, United States
Stats: 6'0", 174 lbs
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That is great! Respect to you for that, I wouldn't try it.
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08-05-2007, 02:23 PM
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 552
BodyPoints: 3928
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Are there any sharks in the waters, I have heard it both ways?
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08-05-2007, 02:26 PM
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#5
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I still want to be lean.
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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A great accomplishment.
__________________
Joel
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature can not be fooled. - Richard P. Feynman
My Journal: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=113158671
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08-05-2007, 02:30 PM
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#6
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SCAdian
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Francisco CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChocolateGirl
Um, Congrats. Why did that little girl not recognize that you were wearing bathing trunks? 
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my guess is that she had not seen many folks getting out of the water with out a full on wet suit on. Also I was not wearing a conventional banana hammock style suit mine was much more modest least I scare the fish.
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WWJB (what would Jesus bench)
Last edited by jacktheblack; 08-05-2007 at 02:33 PM.
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08-05-2007, 02:32 PM
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#7
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SCAdian
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Francisco CA
Age: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob 1
Are there any sharks in the waters, I have heard it both ways?
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Sharks have entered the bay but only on rare occasions, and there have been very very few shark attacks (none since I have lived here) Seals on the other hand scare the poop out of me
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WWJB (what would Jesus bench)
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08-05-2007, 03:19 PM
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
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I think that's really neat that both you and your wife did that. Congrats.
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08-05-2007, 03:39 PM
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#9
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Resident Mutant
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Albany, Georgia, United States
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OK, that's just cool. Something like that where you can say "Yeah, I did that" is always good when it's something most don't have the guts to try. I know I don't
Tom
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"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie"
-Spartan Memorial at Thermopylae
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08-05-2007, 04:07 PM
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#10
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SCAdian
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Francisco CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomcat1066
OK, that's just cool. Something like that where you can say "Yeah, I did that" is always good when it's something most don't have the guts to try. I know I don't
Tom
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hey I did it, so the flood gates are open anyone can do it. Did I mention that there was a guy with one leg in the race, and that I saw him hop out of the water way way ahead of me
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WWJB (what would Jesus bench)
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08-05-2007, 04:09 PM
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#11
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Daddy's Little Girl
Join Date: Jul 2004
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WAY COOL!
I'd thought about doing it when we lived in the SF area...but chickened out.
Kudos, props, cheers, et al to you.
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08-05-2007, 04:37 PM
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#12
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~Mad Man of the Sea~
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Canada
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Awesome Swim Stuff
Smart thinking on choice of trunk since fish could possibly thrown you off course a few times.
That is definately an accomplishment worthy of bragging rights.
And once would be enough for me if I could swim more than the lehgth of the backyard kiddie pool.
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MacGyver(Del) *Bodybuilding*
*More than just Muscle*
இ இ இ Just Do It! இ இ இ
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08-05-2007, 05:25 PM
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 552
BodyPoints: 3928
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Did they give you a patch?
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08-05-2007, 05:44 PM
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#14
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Ka la i ka lolo
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Haiku, Hawaii, United States
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Fantastic! I'm so glad you posted this, what a fun read!
Congrats to you and your wife!
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08-05-2007, 06:19 PM
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#15
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SCAdian
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Francisco CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob 1
Did they give you a patch?

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no,  but I got a cool shirt that I can wear around to let people no how crazy I am
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WWJB (what would Jesus bench)
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08-05-2007, 06:34 PM
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#16
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backyard lifter
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repped!
that is awesome!
i used to be a competitive swimmer and water polo player, yet i have not had the nerve to make that swim...especially without a wet suit!
how about some stats?
how long did it take you?
water temp?
air temp?
what is the prevailing current between the island and the beach?
were you swimming with it?
__________________
"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level...and report you."
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08-05-2007, 06:39 PM
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#17
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Teacher and Bodybuilder
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Oak Park, Illinois, United States
Age: 52
Stats: 6'1", 188 lbs
Posts: 6,068
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jacktheblack
Once is enough for bragging rights for the rest of my life 
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Darn straight it's bragging rights! Congrats on making it, and under bad conditions. What a great story! Thanks for posting it.
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There are no accidents. Everything happens for a reason and usually at exactly the right time.
"greater than or equal to"
fearless
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08-05-2007, 06:50 PM
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#18
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SCAdian
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Francisco CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jackfast1
that is awesome!
i used to be a competitive swimmer and water polo player, yet i have not had the nerve to make that swim...especially without a wet suit!
how about some stats?
how long did it take you?
water temp?
air temp?
what is the prevailing current between the island and the beach?
were you swimming with it?
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Water temp 61 (which is nice compared to what it could have been
Air time 57 (made the water seem even warmer)
My time has not been posted yet (and I might not tell you when it is  )
We were on a 3 knot ebb, which meant a cross current that if you sat still would take you under golden gate bridge in about an hour
__________________
WWJB (what would Jesus bench)
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08-05-2007, 06:58 PM
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#19
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SCAdian
Join Date: Dec 2005
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here is the link to the site if anyone wants more info
http://www.alcatrazchallenge.us/
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WWJB (what would Jesus bench)
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08-05-2007, 07:01 PM
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#20
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:)
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Location: South Carolina, United States
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Wow! I'm impressed!!  Great job!
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08-05-2007, 07:41 PM
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#21
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Registered User
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Congrats! Very impressive.
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So...I say to a friend that I can't eat what she eats because "I eat funny". So she says "what does funny taste like?". So I say "Like rubber chicken".
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08-05-2007, 09:39 PM
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#22
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Message Board King
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Cookie power. WTG Jack!!
Yes, there are sharks in the Bay. Largest shark I ever caught was 50 yards off of the Island. I bet 400 lbs. easy. I caught a big Bull Shark off of the Keys. My 2nd. largest.
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08-05-2007, 09:43 PM
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#23
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Hawaii Warrior Football!
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Congrats!
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08-05-2007, 10:06 PM
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#24
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SCAdian
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: San Francisco CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Baldsnake
Cookie power. WTG Jack!!
Yes, there are sharks in the Bay. Largest shark I ever caught was 50 yards off of the Island. I bet 400 lbs. easy. I caught a big Bull Shark off of the Keys. My 2nd. largest.
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I am so glad that I did not know that before this swim
__________________
WWJB (what would Jesus bench)
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08-05-2007, 11:06 PM
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#25
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Finding my Potential
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I'm so impressed! You rock!
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08-06-2007, 05:39 AM
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#26
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Registered User
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Very awesome!
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I might be out of the woods...
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08-06-2007, 07:09 AM
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#27
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Registered User
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Congrats to you and your wife; VERY impressive.
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08-06-2007, 08:34 AM
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#28
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Registered User
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did you have to crawl through a pipe filled with s*** before you got in the water? LMAO!
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08-06-2007, 09:08 AM
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#29
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Lifting with the Lord
Join Date: May 2006
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Great accomplishment. Very impressive.
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Jesus is my lifting partner.
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08-06-2007, 09:33 AM
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#30
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U.S. Spotting Czar
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Great escape, Jack. Use this if they catch you again
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