MSF Documented Swims - 2015

paulmpaulm Senior Member
edited February 2019 in General Discussion

Hi Team,

Grant Wentworth, his coach Chloë McCardel, the support team & Swim across America have been working on this incredible swim for over 10 months. Grant is on target to raise over $125,000 US for SAA & should be applauded for this great fundraising initiative .......As observer for this swim I would welcome any feedback on the below information between now & this Sunday. Please note, I can't guarantee a David Barra quality report but all of the observation will be reported with appropriate supporting data to ensure the swim is undertaken in the spirit & rules of the Marathon swimming Federation.
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Grant Wentworth’s Nantucket Sound swim

Swim Course

Grant Wentworth has set aside the weeklong window – July 24th to July 31st from which to make his attempt across Nantucket Sound. He plans to embark from Cape Cod’s Seagull Beach in West Yarmouth in the early hours of the morning. Ensuring his safety during the trek across Nantucket Sound will be a team of supporters aboard two boats and kayaks who will follow him along the way (including a ‘shark team’ – see below for more info). Grant’s goal is to finish at Great Point – the northern tip of the island closest to Cape Cod – but given the uncertainty of the winds and tides, he knows his landing point could be anywhere along Nantucket’s north shore.

Historical Claim

He will be the first person to swim from Cape Cod to Nantucket. The swim will be a straight line distance of approximately 24 miles / 39km (measured from Seagull Beach in West Yarmouth to the middle of Nantucket’s northern shore – see attached map) depending on the point of landing. Please Note: Exact point-to-point distances will be outlined in the post-swim Observer report.

Background

No one has attempted a solo swim across the open water of Nantucket Sound between Nantucket and Cape Cod in nearly three decades. The only man known to have successfully completed a solo crossing is Paul Asmuth, an International Swimming Hall of Famer who swam the opposite direction from Nantucket to Hyannis in just over 12 hours back in 1986. In the unlikely event of un-swimmable weather during the window for the planned Cape Cod to Nantucket direction the swim course may be switched for a Nantucket start and anticipated Cape Cod finish. In this event, Grant will claim to be the second person to have swum the Nantucket Sound.

Swim Rules

Grant’s marathon swim will be conducted within the ‘spirit’ of marathon swimming. It will be a non-stop and unassisted swim – as per the guidelines of the ‘Rules of Marathon Swimming’ codified by the Marathon Swimmers Federation.

Fundraising Initiative

Through the Swim Across America charitable organization, Wentworth is leveraging the Cape Cod-to-Nantucket swim to support Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s cancer care program, and has already raised over $100,000 from friends, family, and supporters. To donate to Wentworth’s swim, visit his Swim Across America page.

Swimmer

Grant Wentworth
Bio: 28 years old. 2014 English Channel Relay. 26.5k Long Pond Swim in Mount Desert, ME. 16.5k Nantucket Harbor Swim. 3x Town of Nantucket - Wauwinet 10k. 3x Alcatraz Swims. Swim Across America Boston Harbor Swim. 1.5 mile Bill Reeve Echo Lake Swim. 1-mile Swim Across America Nantucket. 1-mile Hudson River Swim for Life. 1k NYCSWIM Brooklyn Bridge Swim.

Pilot

John Boreland
Bio: MOWSA-recognized pilot. Has piloted for 6x Plymouth to Provincetown (P2P) swims.

Navigator

Ron Kramer
Bio: Navigator for all past Nantucket Sound Swim attempts
Navigated Paul Asmuth’s solo swim on 6th of September 1986 (success), two other SAA Relay successes (September 1992 and 1995) and two other unsuccessful SAA attempts (September 1993 and 1994).

Support Crew

Coach & Head Feeder
Chloë McCardel
Bio: 10x English Channel solo swims and longest ratified open water swim in history (Bahamas 2014, 124.4km). Coached Grant as part of the 2014 Swim Across America English Channel Charity Relays. Coached total of 10x relays and 1x solo across the English Channel (56 swimmers).

Observer

Paul McQueeney
Bio: Solo English Channel in 2009. Crewed and supported all of Chloë’s (his wife’s), major marathon swims since late 2009. Official observer for 20x English Channel Relay 2hr qualifiers and 2x solo qualifiers.

Kayak Team & Assistant Feeders

  • Mark Wentworth
  • Matthew Evans
  • Brian Ebke
  • Scott Arcenas

Shark Team

Please Note: The Shark Team are engaged to prevent a close encounter with a shark via deterrence. They are strictly instructed to only use non-lethal and harmless methods of deterrence at all times. No shark or other marine creature will be harmed in the course of this swim.

  • Head – Andy Olday
  • Blake Knowles
  • Chris Jankins

Map of swim course to be uploaded over the next few days.


Any private questions for me please email me paul@portalpeople.com.au

Thanks! Paul McQ

(Grant Wentworth is pictured below)

grant wentworth

Tagged:
IronMikeevmoLeonard_Jansendavid_barrajendut

Comments

  • Swimmer18Swimmer18 PennsylvaniaMember

    Best of Luck.

    This has been a dream swim of mine since I started swimming 6 years ago. Maybe I can be second.

    All the best!

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    Awesome swim idea... go Grant!

    I've added to the MSF Solo Swim Calendar:

    http://marathonswimmers.org/solo-calendar

  • david_barradavid_barra NYCharter Member

    Nice. John Boreland sold me the hull that would become Agent Orange... Also piloted P2P for my and Janet Harris' tandem swim.
    Great crew assembled. Good luck!

    ...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

  • edited July 2015

    HI All! Chloe here updating you on where Grant Wentworth is at. His Charity Solo Swim from Cape Cod - Nantucket to benefit the cancer care program at Nantucket Cottage Hospital is due to start at approx. 4am EST tomorrow (Friday) :)

    The swim will be conducted strictly under the unassisted Marathon Swimming Federation (MSF) Rules. Track him here- http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0thHsOqli60ctcdlli8hlREsCSGMY4yoh Updates here facebook.com/ChloeMcCardel

    Thanks for everyone's support!! Chloe :)

    david_barraViveBene
  • Fair winds, sparkling waves -- Go get it!

    :)

    Chrisgreene
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    Grant is closing in on his goal! Swim, Grant, swim!

  • paulmpaulm Senior Member

    HI Team,

    It was an absolute privilege to observe Grant's successful swim from Cape Cod to Nantucket. Grant was forced to fight a very strong tide over the last 2 plus hours . Grant had a fantastic team on board both and has raised over US$130,000 to benefit the cancer care program at Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

    I will add additional comments over the coming days and upload a full copy of the original MSF observers Log as well as pull together other supporting data.

    I can tell you that Grant did in my opinion (and subject to ratification ) complete this swim under MSF standard Rules- -unmodified, no exceptions taken. His official time was 12 hours 54 seconds- . Grant advised me directly after hearing the time that it was the same time as Paul Asmuth (12.01) did many years ago when swimming the reverse course from Nantucket to Cape Cod. With Grant's approval and noting the advanced timing technology available today we would like to call Grant's official time subject to ratification as time as being 12.01 (rather than 12.00.54).

    Thanks

    Paul

    david_barraViveBeneevmoIronMiketortuga
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited July 2015

    @paulm and @chloemccardeldotcom (who are in the midst of international travel) requested that I post the following about Grant's swim:


    Hi Team,

    Here are a few updates from Grant's swim - Copy of Google Maps showing point-to-point swim distance for the swim, SPOT GPS Tracker and a photo of Grant pre-swim. As Chloe and I are still international I will forward the MSF Observer log and more info for them to review and post.

    Paul

    Swim Route

    route

    Swim Track (GPS)

    track

    Swim Attire

    attire

    tortugaViveBene
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited February 2016

    Very pleased to announce a new MSF Documented Swim, and it's a good one: last September, NYC resident and 8 Bridges alumnus Spencer Schneider completed a creative and (as far as we know) unprecedented swim around the Montauk Peninsula, a very beautiful stretch of coast at the end of Long Island, New York. This was a 17.3 mile / 27.8 km swim by shortest swimmable path.

    Spencer's swim documentation is available here:

    http://marathonswimmers.org/swims/2015/schneider-montauk

    The documentation showcases the latest advances in MSF swim documentation technology, including interactive javascript maps to display the route map and GPS track. Check it out.

    Enjoy.... and congratulations to Spencer and team.

  • SpacemanspiffSpacemanspiff Dallas, TexasSenior Member

    The write-up is awesome. This section made me laugh out loud, mostly because I've been there! (hint: it's even funnier if you play, "I wonder what they really said" while reading...)

    My spirits were about 5 on the 1-10 happiness scale; which is managing. At about this point, I started to ask Amanda how much longer we had till the end, basically because I couldn’t really tell. The tower was getting no bigger. And it seemed like I was standing still. Amanda told me to keep going, ignoring my question. Same question at the next feed and I got the same non-answer from Amanda. Now I was down to 3 on the happiness scale. And I told myself that at the next feed I wouldn’t accept anymore Amanda’s evasiveness. And it still didn’t seem like we were getting anywhere, although it was gorgeous out there. Although I had not asked for the time, the sun was going down and it was concerning me. I really didn’t know how much longer I could swim. And now the tide was shifting against us. At the next feed I really gave it to Amanda and demanded a concrete answer. I can tell you that Amanda wasn’t feeling too happy either – probably about a 3 on the happiness scale. She conceded that she didn’t know how much longer it would take and insisted there was no reason I needed to know this. I countered that I had to conserve and plan. She scoffed at this and by the end of this exchange, we both descended about 2 more points on the happiness scale.

    Nice job Spencer! (and Amanda ;) )

    evmopavlicovKellieDanSimonelliChrisgreeneJaimie

    "Lights go out and I can't be saved
    Tides that I tried to swim against
    Have brought be down upon my knees
    Oh I beg, I beg and plead..."

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited February 2016

    Last September, New York City resident Alan Morrison completed a 23.4-mile (37.7 km) round-trip swim between the Brooklyn Bridge and Coney Island. This swim was observed and documented by Rondi Davies, the fastest woman to swim around Manhattan.

    Alan's swim documentation is now available here:

    http://marathonswimmers.org/swims/2015/morrison-brooklyn-coney

    The documentation includes a neat visualization of Alan's position superimposed on a map of the predicted current velocities in New York Bay.

    Well done, Alan and team!

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    We're pleased to announce the publication of another fantastically well-documented swim: Patricia Sener's 16-mile crossing of the New York Bight, from Sandy Hook NJ to Atlantic Beach, Long Island, NY. This swim was observed by Lori King, navigated by Rondi Davies, piloted by Robert Hayes, kayaked by Margrethe Hørlyck-Romanovsky, and crewed by Alan Morrison and Lukas Wolf.

    http://marathonswimmers.org/swims/2015/sener-new-york-bight

    H2Open Magazine published an interview with Patricia about her swim, you can read it here:

    http://h2openmagazine.com/blogs/protecting-the-whales-of-new-york

  • rosemarymintrosemarymint Charleston, SCCharter Member

    So exciting to read much more about this swim. I hope to do it in a few years!

    evmo
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    Grant Wentworth's Nantucket Sound swim has been published to MSF Documented Swims:

    http://marathonswimmers.org/swims/2015/wentworth-nantucket

    Congrats Grant, Chloe, Paul, & team!

    JayssthomaspaulmthelittlemerwookieIronMike
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