Southern California Pier Adventure Swim

Steve, I wanted to give you a story, but I ask you not to print or say anything until a few days before the event. This is going to be a fun and it is what I call a true “adventure” swim.

On August 17th, 14 swimmers (mostly from Oak Street) myself included, are going to attempt to swim around every pier in Southern California in less than 24 hours (Sans Wetsuit). The swimmers are:

Scott Zornig (Organizer)
Ray Meltvedt (Organizer)
Natalie Merrow
Lynn Kubasek
Carol Hayden
Peter Hayden
Tanya MacLean
Lisa Nordholm
Julian Rusinek
Tim McFadden
Francisco Araujos
Cherie Edborg
Patse Ober
Theo Schmeeckle

We will start in northern Santa Barbara county and go though Ventura, LA, Orange and San Diego counties. We will swim around every pier except those on the channel islands. We have chosen August 17th as the date and we are renting 2 RV’s with drivers so swimmers have a place to get comfortable during the event.

Those that have done a marathon swim in the group (myself, Natalie, Lynn and Ray) have all agreed that this will likely be more difficult than a 20 mile marathon swim. First, we will be doing over 11 miles of start and stop swimming in a 24 hour period. Secondly, and even more significant, is that we will be getting wet, cold, dry, warm 27 times. My guess is that only a few people (if any) will be able to make all 27 piers, but we are all going to give this our best effort.

I will keep you posted on our progress, It should be a blast. Feel free to check in with me if this is something you would be interested in covering.

Regards,

Scott Zornig
Southern California Pier Adventure Swim
Santa Barbara County
GAVIOTA PIER, (400m) Start
ELWOOD PIER, (1000m) 20 mile drive
GOLETA PIER, Goleta (1000m) 8 mile drive
STERNS WARF, Santa Barbara (1200m) 12 mile drive
CARPENTERIA PIER, (500m) 11 mile drive
Ventura County
RICHFIELD PIER, (1200m) 6 mile drive or Start
VENTURA COUNTY, Ventura (800m) 10 mile drive
PORT HUENEME FISHING PIER, Port Hueneme (600m) 12 mile drive
Los Angeles County
GREEN PLEASRUE PIER, Avalon (400m) – Skip
PARADISE COVE, Malibu (150m) 30 mile drive or Start
MALIBU SURFRIDER, Malibu (450m) 7 mile drive
SANTA MONICA, Santa Monica (400m) 12 mile drive
VENICE FISHING PIER, Venice (500m) 3 mile drive
MANHATTAN BEACH, Manhattan Beach (400m) 12 mile drive
HERMOSA PIER, Hermosa Beach (500m) 2 mile drive
REDONDO BEACH PIER, Redondo Beach (500m) 1 mile drive
CABRILLO PIER, San Pedro (800m) 13 mile drive
BELMONT VETERANS PIER, Long Beach (800m) 11 mile drive
Orange County
SEAL BEACH, Seal Beach – 1906 – rebuilt several times (800m) 4 mile drive
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Huntington Beach – 1903 – rebuilt several times (800m) 9 mile drive
NEWPORT PIER, Newport Beach – 1891 – rebuilt in 1940 (600m) 6 mile drive
BALBOA PIER, Newport Beach – 1906 (400m) 2 mile drive
SAN CLEMENTE PIER, San Clemente – 1928 (800m) 34 mile drive
San Diego County
OCEANSIDE PIER, Oceanside – 1888 – rebuilt 5 times (1000M) 24 mile drive
SCRIPPS PIER, La Jolla – 1915 – rebuilt in 1988 (600m) 29 mile drive
CRYSAL PIER, Pacific Beach – 1927 (500m) 7 mile drive
OCEAN BEACH PIER, Ocean Beach – 1966 – Longest concrete pier on west coast of USA (1500M) 6 mile drive
IMPEIAL BEACH PIER, Imperial Beach – 1963 – rebuilt in 1989 (800M) 20 mile drive
Distances do not represent length of pier. Rather, these are estimated meters to swim around pier. The distances may vary significantly due to tides.

Option 1
19 piers – LA, Orange and San Diego counties = 202 miles driving and 12,300 meters swimming (8 hours driving, 5 hours swimming, 2 hours for eating/resting = 15 total hours)

Option 2
22 piers – Ventura, LA, Orange and San Diego counties = 254 miles driving and 14,900 meters swimming (10 hours driving, 6 hours swimming, 2.5 hours for eating/resting = 18.5 total hours)
Option 3
27 piers – Santa Barbara, Ventura, LA, Orange and San Diego counties = 311 miles driving and 19,000 meters swimming (12 hours driving, 8 hours swimming, 3 hours for eating/resting = 23 total hours)

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