So said Stan Lee, the American comic book writer and co-creator of superheroes like Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, the Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, the Scarlet Witch, and Black Widow.
Lee visited Newport Beach is a wealthy coastal city in Southern California, known for its boat-filled harbor, wide sandy beaches, the big-wave Wedge, and large estates, for a special open water swimming production in 2014.
The backdrop was the Balboa Island Ferry that carries vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles between the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island in Newport Harbor between 6:30 am to midnight 7 days per week.
It was here that the History Channel came to film Jim Dreyer who flew out from his native Michigan to showcase his love of strength swimming, a term he coined in 2013 to describe his Cornerstone Strength Swim – Detroit. During this 35.4 km boat-pulling swim, he swam while pulled literally a ton of bricks (907 kg) while completing a self-sufficient swim across Lake St. Clair from Algonac to Detroit, Michigan. He towed a full ton of bricks before losing half of his load in the rough seas in his 51 hour 42 minute swim. He pulled the entire load for approximately 18 hours and finished the last 33 hours with “only” 1,000 pounds in two dinghies.
The next year, the Stan Lee’s Superhuman Showdown program produced a segment of Dreyer towing a 27-ton car ferry across Newport Harbor in 2014. Lee said afterwards, “I never thought I would see something as remarkable as that.“
As did Dr. Rod Havriluk who also appeared on the show. Dr. Havriluk is a biomechanist who specializes in swimming technique instruction and analysis, and serves on the advisory board for the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming.
© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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