----- Original Message ----- From: "John Fereira" <jaf30_at_cornell.edu> > At 11:16 AM 6/22/01 -0400, ralph diaz wrote: > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: <FoldingBoats_at_aol.com> > >To: <PaddleWise_at_paddlewise.net> > > > > > >The other Ralph is doing swim support tomorrow in a double foldable (a Pouch > >I assume) for the 20th swim circumnavigation of the island. Each swim has a > >kayaker(s) and a motorboat. Record time is in the 6 hr range for the 28 > >miles. > > Is that right? I've often heard that a circumnavigation of Manhattan by > kayak takes closer to 10 hours. Apologies for not getting back to this sooner, but I have been involved with the round-Manhattan swim race for the last 48 hours and away from my computer. The race went on despite having to be stopped several times for lightning and severe weather and nearly all of the competitors finished (there were 30 individual swimmer and 8 relay times of 6 swimmer each, i.e. a total of 78 competitors); none of the fleet of kayakers, some 35 in number, broke down although several of the motorboats did. The sight of the marshalling of the kayak force at the Downtown Boathouse, all readying themselves to do battle with a 30 mile paddle (water supply and other long-range gear) is something to behold. Back to your question of times. Below are the record and stats regarding the Round Manhattan Swim, which celebrated its 20th year with this race on Saturday. To my memory, the fastest kayaking trip was in the 4:30 range (but my memory may be faulty on that and certainly subject to correction ); and just within the last few weeks, one of Downtown Boathouse paddlers, Scott (I keep mixing up his last name with another Scott I know). did it in 4:45 with a lucky streak in terms of the currents switches and power greatly favoring him). Scott's boat, BTW, is in a home-crafted, quite heavy wooden kayak. Here are the swim figures for swimming around Manhattan (MIMS is the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, the official race). Joy Hecht: Please note that the fastest time, not connected with a race but verifiable, was by a woman; and that they have been beating men at it even before women' suffrage nearly a century ago. Also to your separate question, yes, there are several Ralphs in the folding kayak realm, me and Ralph Hoehn. I refer to him as my Tocayo (the friendly Spanish term one uses to refer to someone with the same first name). So it is Ralph and his German Tocayo tilting at the windmills of ignorance on the plains of hardshelldom :-) Round Manhattan Swim Records (it's 28 miles around, if you hug the shoreline): MIMS Record: 6 hours, 32 minutes, 45 seconds (6:32:45), set by Tobie Smith. 25, of Austin, Texas in 1999 Overall Record for Swimming Around Manhattan: 5 hours, 45 minutes, 25 seconds (5:45:25), set by Shelley Taylor-Smith of Australia, in a special swim on July 14, 1995. Men's Record: 5 hours, 53 minutes, 57 seconds (5:53:57), set by Kris Rutford of Lincoln, Nebraska in a special swim in 1992. First Recorded Attempt to Swim Around Manhattan: Robert Dowling, 18, on September 5, 1915. His time was 13 hours, 45 minutes (13:45). First Recorded Attempt by a Woman: Ida Elinsky, on September 5, 1916. Her time was 11 hours, 35 minutes (11:35). Oldest Competitor: Dextor Woodford, 77, in 1991 Youngest Competitor: Cody Brammer, 12, in 1988 ralph diaz-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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