Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

“I can’t see the buoy.”

“I couldn’t see anything when my goggles filled up [with water].”

“The waves were so big and the sun was in my eyes, I couldn’t barely see a thing.”

Those comments can be heard frequently among open water swimmers. Visually impaired, swimmers often talk about “swimming blind”.

But in Mark Rew‘s case, he is. As in totally blind.

Brian Suddeth will serve as his swim angel during tomorrow’s Great Chesapeake Bay Swim for Rew. Rew swims side-by-side with Suddeth as an untethered swimmer with Peggy Connor as his kayaker.

“Tomorrow I’ll be escorting my blind swim partner Mark in his second attempt at the mile. His 47:10 swim last year, was successful, but he’s not satisfied with last place, so he’s aiming for under 40 minutes tomorrow. Every swim is a success when it is completed safely though.

We did a nice training swim in the Severn River in Maryland with members of the Arundle Breakfast Club last week.”

Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association