Open water swimmers and their coaches and crew communicate in a variety of ways – via hand signals, shouting, pointing or with a whiteboard.

But Dave Barra and his crew member John Humenik aboard Paul Foreman’s escort boat, the Pace Arrow, on an English Channel crossing used a more explicit and direct form of communication: messages on a bottle.

“With Cap Gris Nez coming into full view, John, equipped with a roll of red tape and x-acto knife, put their communication plan into action,” explained Dave.

Photo by Sharoz Makarechi.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source