Good, clean fun

An expected 20 people will try to swim the length of Tampa Bay to call attention to its improving water quality.

By TERRY TOMALIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 21, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- Bob Beach considers Saturday's 24-mile swim along the length of Tampa Bay just another workout.

"I'm considering another attempt at the (English) Channel," said the 69-year-old retired circuit judge. "It is a swim, the longer the better."

Beach and 19 other open-water enthusiasts will brave the waters of Tampa Bay to help celebrate Earth Day and focus attention on the improving water quality of Florida'sNORTH PINELLAS TIMESrgest estuary.

For many years, swimming in Tampa Bay wasn't appealing. Pollution, municipal waste, urban runoff and sediment from large-scale dredging operations severely degraded what once was the state's most productive fishery.

But the Clean Water Act of 1972 led to restoration efforts by governments, and water quality gradually improved.

The redfish, snook and trout began to make a comeback. Then the bait fish returned. Soon ocean-going predators such as king mackerel began to hunt again deep inside the bay. Even the bay scallop, all but wiped out in the 1960s, reappeared among the thriving sea grass beds.

Humans, however, kept their distance. Then, four years ago, Ron Collins, a local distance swimmer, and Peter Clark, executive director of Tampa BayWatch, decided to test the waters.

On a blustery November afternoon, Collins and some friends swam from Gandy Beach in St. Petersburg to Picnic Island in Tampa, the narrowest point of Tampa Bay. The next spring, Clark organized a race that drew more than 100 swimmers.

But this just whet Collins' appetite. He had just heard from a friend in Miami who had spent $15,000 to swim the English Channel's 62-degree waters.

"What convinced me to invent my own local event was the story of the finish," Collins writes on DistanceMatters.com, his Web site dedicated to long-distance swimming, " ... His boat captain stopped about 200 yards off the French shoreline and directed his flood light toward land."

The friend, Scott Coleman, swam to shore, then celebrated in the darkness for a moment with his escort swimmer, then hopped on the boat back to England.

Collins, a stock broker, thought there had to be a better way to stage a marathon swim. So on April15, 1998, he rounded up some buddies and leisurely swam the 24-mile length of Tampa Bay in about 10 hours. Then he hosted a huge party at a bar on the Courtney Campbell Parkway.

Word spread quickly through the open-water swimming community. The next year, 15 showed up to swim, with 11 finishing. Chris Derks, a 28-year-old from Miami, set a course record of 8 hours, 23 minutes.

This year, the field has swelled to 20 registered solo swimmers and five relay teams, including one from the University of Florida composed of three women who have qualified for the 2000 Olympic trials.

Sandeep "Sandy" Kumar Gupta has traveled from Chennai, India, to add swim to his resume. Gupta, 26, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for swimming continuously for 30 hours in a 50-meter pool.

Gary Kovacs, a 19-year-old from Plant City and a college All-American, hopes to be the youngest to swim the length of Tampa Bay. He will be joined by locals Tim Moore, a 47-year-old triathlete from St. Petersburg, who last year became the oldest person to complete the swim (12 hours, 31 minutes.)

Dr. Konrad Euler, 64, also of St. Petersburg, attempted the distance last year but withdrew because of leg cramps. Beach, a body surfer from California (Malibu, Class of '48) hopes to break Moore's record.

Beach, the first judge to swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco, attempted the English Channel on his 50th birthday but stopped less than 2 miles from shore when the tide changed.

Beach and the others hope the 75 degree water will prove ideal for a long swim.

But Beach said the result really doesn't matter.

"It is just another swim," he repeated. "The longer the better."

Open-water action

TAMPA BAY MARATHON SWIM: Saturday, Sunshine Skyway bridge to Courtney Campbell Parkway, 24 miles, registration/closed, results: DistanceMatters.com.

TAMPA BAY OPEN WATER CHALLENGE: May 6, Gandy Beach in St. Petersburg to Picnic Island in Tampa, 3.1 miles, call (727) 896-5320 to register, information: tampabaywatch.org.

HURRICANE MAN ROUGH WATER SWIM: May 13, Pass-a-Grille Beach, 2.4-mile and 1,000-meter races, call (727) 345-1629 to register.

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