#143 for Bill Welzien around Key West: I feel God’s pleasure when I swim

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Bill “Ciastko” Welzien (USA, 74, MSF bio here) says, “I feel God’s pleasure when I swim,” paraphrasing Eric Liddell in the movie Chariots of Fire.

Over the last 34 years, Welzien has completed 143 warm-water 20.1 km circumnavigation swims around Key West in southern Florida. This week, he finished in 6 hours 27 minutes. At 74 years old, he shows no signs of slowing down.

“I find it challenging. It’s a good discipline. I know my window is closing at near 75 years and I still want to get what I can through it. I feel very blessed to be able to do this and I still have the ‘want to.’ I know it’s healthy for me, mentally, physically and spiritually.”

As he has done many, many times before, his son David Welzien paddled next to his father on the clockwise course, providing nutrition and protection. The wind was minimal with the air temperature between 69 – 74°F (20.5 – 23°C) in the 23°C water.

Welzien started his solo swims around Key West in 1991 and served as the race organizer of the Swim Around Key West in 2003. He completed his 100th swim (Century Swim) in May 2018, averaging 6 hours 15 minutes over the course for his first 100 swims.

This was his seventh circumnavigation swim since he turned 74 last April – a remarkable feat and unprecedented streak for the Floridian septuagenarian.