General Discussion Triathlon Talk » 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean Rss Feed  
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2009-02-08 3:47 PM

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Master
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Subject: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

Hey Guys...

Check this article....very impressing....

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/9195214/?MSNHPHCP&GT1=39002



2009-02-09 9:44 AM
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Extreme Veteran
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

I just saw this and was going to post something.

Umm, like, wow. Just wow.

"...battling waves of up to 30 feet and strong winds."

2009-02-09 9:58 AM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

I need to stop complaining of bring tired during my early morning masters swim class.  Smile

 

Trail_Runner

2009-02-09 10:01 AM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
velorider62 - 2009-02-08 4:47 PM

Hey Guys...

Check this article....very impressing...

And impressive.

 

I wonder if she does flip turns in the pool.

 

 

2009-02-09 10:03 AM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

"David Higdon, a friend of Figge who kept in touch with her via satellite phone, said she had originally planned to swim to the Bahamas, but inclement weather forced her to veer 1,000 miles off course to Trinidad, where she arrived on Thursday."

It's unbelievable she used the phone while doing this.  I bet she also uses it while doing slow, casual laps at her local pool while people are waiting, or worse, while just walking on the treadmill. 

You know, if someone else had been out there trying to make the same crossing at the same time on the same route, she could have held them up while jabbering away on the phone.

;-)

Sorry, couldn't resist...

2009-02-09 10:30 AM
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Master
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

Amazing.  I wonder how much she's swimming/day during the crossing? 

The article says a previous guy (Lecomte) did 4000 miles in 73 days???  That's over 50 miles/day!  I can't do that in two weeks!  Unfathomable.



2009-02-09 10:41 AM
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, North Carolina
Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

There's some good video, notes, and photos of her on Facebook.

Click here.

2009-02-09 11:05 AM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
I'm not going to say that I don't believe the story, but I certainly don't understand the little that I do know about it. I mean, how many miles per day does that work out to?
2009-02-09 12:38 PM
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Regular
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
It sounded to me like she was sleeping and eating on a boat each night (?).  I'm not sure that she was actually in the water 24/7.
2009-02-09 12:49 PM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
At Kona in 2008 the top finishers swam 2.4 miles in 52-63 minutes. Lets call it an hour. That would be 20 hours of swimming/day at elite athlete race pace for 73 days straight with no rest days to make 48 miles per day. Plus eating/sleeping time
2009-02-09 1:08 PM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
This is just absolutely amazing. She seemed to love the whole thing too!


2009-02-09 1:55 PM
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Master
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

ksmith4 - 2009-02-09 1:49 PM At Kona in 2008 the top finishers swam 2.4 miles in 52-63 minutes. Lets call it an hour. That would be 20 hours of swimming/day at elite athlete race pace for 73 days straight with no rest days to make 48 miles per day. Plus eating/sleeping time

Right.  It's so hard for me to comprehend, that I almost don't believe it.  It would be hard to do that many miles for that long on land, let alone in the water.  Maybe the boats they sleep on are motoring/drifting while they rest?  Or maybe they are simply that good.

2009-02-09 2:12 PM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

Anyone checked these numbers - they are from one of the comments on Fox

Distance from Cape Verde to Trinidad = 3380km (assuming a straight line swim which is extremely difficult to achieve in the ocean)
Duration = 25 days
Hours in Water per day = 8hrs
Her Calculated Average Swim Speed = 16.9 km/hr

Average Speed of the Gulf Stream Current = 5.4 km/hr
Thus the speed she would have to swim at in "still" water = 11.5 km/hr

The fastest freestyle swim speed is 8.2 km/hr. So she would have to be setting a world record for 8 hrs a day for 25 days.

J

2009-02-09 2:29 PM
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Westminster, CO
Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

Rocky Mountain News has a good article about the swim.  Turns out the media and Figge may have embellished a bit:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/09/aspen-womans-atlantic-swim-carries-asterisk/

don't forget to entertain yourself with the blogs that follow.....

2009-02-09 2:35 PM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
greyhound - 2009-02-09 3:29 PM

Rocky Mountain News has a good article about the swim.  Turns out the media and Figge may have embellished a bit:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/09/aspen-womans-atlantic-swim-carries-asterisk/

don't forget to entertain yourself with the blogs that follow.....

That was a buzzkill ... but a needed reality check. 

2009-02-09 2:46 PM
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Coach
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
greyhound - 2009-02-09 2:29 PM

Rocky Mountain News has a good article about the swim.  Turns out the media and Figge may have embellished a bit:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/09/aspen-womans-atlantic-swim-carries-asterisk/

don't forget to entertain yourself with the blogs that follow.....

I knew something was fishy (pun intended). Don't know who screwed up the facts but the original article is misleading.


2009-02-09 2:57 PM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

Good swimmers can swim a mile in about 20 minutes. If she could have kept up that pace hour after hour, day after day, she may have swum about 350 miles.

Frickin' joke ........ "I swam across the Atlantic in a month!"

Right, and I rode across the US in a day when I rode 29 miles on Saturday ....... after all, 1/100th of the distance is about right, isn't it???

Booooooooo!!!!

2009-02-09 5:01 PM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
mrbbrad - 2009-02-09 11:01 AM
velorider62 - 2009-02-08 4:47 PM

Hey Guys...

Check this article....very impressing...

And impressive.

 

I wonder if she does flip turns in the pool.

 

i bet she just floated on  noodle too!

 

2009-02-09 5:12 PM
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Master
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

I actually was really disappointed in the blogs that followed that article.  from my understanding (which could be incorrect) the miscommunication of data was not from her camp, but from the media.  ....one of the blogs even said "she should be ashamed of herself". 

 in my opinion what she did was still a very impressive feat.  I cannot understand why athletes continuously tear each other apart.  (not saying anyone here is, but the blogs following that article were definitely not nice).

2009-02-10 3:26 PM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean

SWIMS (chronological):

Ruedi Reservoir, Colorado, 4 miles & 8 miles (1995 & 1996)
Turkey to Greece, Lesvos, 6 miles (1995)
Mokie Canyon, Lake Powell, Utah, 6 miles (1995)
Corsica, France to Sardinia, Italy, Straights of Bonafacio, 12.4 miles (1996)
Aruba to Venezuela, Incomplete (currents, jellyfish sting/swollen eye), 18 miles (1996)
Colorado River, Laughlin, NV to Needles, California, 28 miles (1996)
Sea of Cortez, Carmen Island to Loretto, Baha, Mexico, 9 miles (1997)
Anguila Channel, St. Martin to Anguila, Caribbean, 6 miles (1997)
Santa Barbara Channel, California, 14 miles (1997)
Au Au Channel, Lanai to Maui, Hawaii, 9 miles (1998)
St. Barth’s Channel, St. Barth’s to St. Martin, Caribbean, 12 miles (1998)
Venezuela to Aruba, 2nd incomplete attempt (darkness), 18 miles (1999)
San Jose de Cabo Bay, Mexico, 9 miles (1999 & two other times)
Norman Island BVI to St. Thomas, VI (incomplete, shark sighting at 9 miles), 11 miles (2000)
Vineyard Sounds, Martha’s Vineyard to Cutty Hunk, Massachusetts, 7.2 miles (2000)
Strait of Tiran, Red Sea, Egypt, 5.6 miles (2000)
Strait of Johor, Singapore to Malaysia, 2.5 miles (2000)
Strait of Gibraltor, Spain to Morocco, 12.4 miles (2001 & 2002)
Martha’s Vineyard to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 4 miles (2002)
Cozumel Channel, 20 miles (2003)
Tahiti to Morea, French Polynesia, 9 miles (2004)
Taha to Bora Bora, 9 miles (2005)
The Seychelles, St. Anne’s Channel, 4 miles (2006)
Heads of Sydney Harbor, 2 miles (2007)
Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas to Marathon, Florida, 52 miles, 3 days (2007)
Miami, Florida to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 21 miles (3 times in 2008)
Miami, Florida to Boca Raton, Florida, 30 miles (2008)

Now I question all of these.  And I wonder, where is the English Channel?

2009-02-10 4:58 PM
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Subject: RE: 56-year-old woman swims across Atlantic Ocean
This story is almost as lame as the Octuplets. Not the thread...but the story...Yawn.


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