Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

This is a really difficult question: What is harder?

The 66-mile triple crossing of Lake Tahoe – high in the Sierra Nevada mountains – by Jamie Patrick or the 72-mile crossing of Kaieiewaho Channel between Oahu and Kauai – out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – by Penny Palfrey?

While Jamie Patrick will face cold water (12.7-15.5°C or 55-60°F) and altitude (6,225 feet or 1,897 meters) in his 106K unprecedented swim, Palfrey will face sharks and truly mountaneous seas over an uncharted 115K stretch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Both are courageous. Both are audacious. Both are adventurous.

Patrick is a pioneering swimmer in the mountains while Palfrey is a daredevil in the tropics.

Both are training to swim 30 – 40 hours, straight through the night and throughout the next day. Both are going way beyond the normal or the expected.

With these open water heroes, Expect the Unexpected.

Copyright © 2010 by World Open Water Swimming Association