In three weeks, I will walk off Angel Road sandbar [see below] on Shōdoshima in the Seto Inland Sea. With live television cameras rolling in Japan, I will start swimming counterclockwise around the “Olive Island” of Japan.
Chris Morgan, PhD will serve as my escort kayaker on my left and Skyler Munatones as my escort paddler on my right. The possible conditions for Swim Shōdoshima (スイム小豆島) can range from pleasantly tranquil conditions with little wind to steadily wavy conditions where small craft advisories are issued to the local fishing communities.
Due to this uncertainty, I am primarily swimming in windy and wavy conditions along the shoreline at Huntington Beach, California – known as Surf City, U.S.A – for the last several months. Every day, the conditions, water temperatures, wind direction and strength, and marine life are different. Similar to grabbing into a box of See’s Candies with my eyes closed, I never know what I will face.
But what is very cool about the event is the headquarters for Swim Shōdoshima in the city of Tonoshō. It is here that my support team will enjoy the cultural traditions and traditional foods of Japan during the 7-day stage swim.
Shōdoshima is an island located within 3-4 hours of Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto by car, train, or ferry. We will circumnavigate the island with beautiful shoreline areas featuring olive groves, sand beaches, and rocky coastal scenery. Off in the distance, we will pass or see hundreds of islets and islands, many of which are uninhabited.
It will be a truly enjoyable adventure, both in the water and on dryland. We are going all-in Japanese style during our time on Shōdoshima: eating the seafood and specialty dishes like olive somen and soy sauce ice cream.
After the domestically televised swim is completed, I will travel to the Kansai Medical Center in Osaka where cardiologists from the Japanese Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation, the Japanese Association of Exercise Therapy and Prevention, and the Exercise Is Medicine Japan NGO will give me a battery of cardiopulmonary exercise tests on the 10-year anniversary of my cardiac rehabilitation.
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