Courtesy of Hank Wise, Swim Focus, California.
Hank Wise talks about his version of a perfect swim in Huntington Beach, California:
“The conditions are cloudy and extremely windy. Windy as can be coming from the north about 25 to 35 miles per hour, preferably at the tail end of a storm – with the wind and waves are going sideways from north to south.
The surf is 4 to 8 feet and blown to bits with the ocean current screaming from north to south.
We begin our swim at Goldenwest Street in Huntington Beach and head south swimming calmly and parallel to shore – surviving really – amidst the chaos. I do this with one other strong and calm, ocean swimmer. We need a buddy system in these conditions. We see how fast we get sucked past the Huntington Beach Pier.
Once we have swum past the pier, we head for the beach. Ideally, we catch a medium scary, big messy wave and body surf to the shore.
We high five each other and ask the lifeguard truck to let us stand on their truck bumper and drive us back to the start at Goldenwest Street. We are already bone dry by the time we get back to where we started.”
Photo shows Wise on the mainland after one of his Catalina Channel crossings.
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