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Release for press;

“VANCOUVER – On July 3^rd five swimmers will enter Georgia Strait, or the northern arm of the newly named Salish Sea, near Sechelt and emerge less than 12 hours later at Pipers Beach in Nanaimo. The swimmers are daring to cross this 35 km stretch of water, roughly the same distance as the English Channel crossing, in order to draw attention to increased pressure being put on the Strait of Georgia.

Following in the “finsteps” of marathon swimmers Fin Donnelly and Marilyn Bell, Rod Craig will swim without wetsuit, and four others will swim in relay. “The purpose of the swim is to draw attention to the fragile nature of the Salish Sea,” says Brent Hobbs, Salish Sea swim coordinator.  “This region is home to the magnificent Pacific Salmon and many other marine creatures, and we have to become more aware of the need to protect this amazing body of water.”

“Crossing the Salish Sea is an opportunity to bring attention to one of the finest bodies of water in the world through a physical demonstration of endurance,” said Fin Donnelly, who successfully crossed this body of water four times in the 1990s. “These swimmers are doing this swim because they love and respect the ocean and its denizens”

“We greatly appreciate the attention these swimmers are bringing to the Strait of Georgia, one of Canada’s most at risk natural environments,” says Christianne Wilhelmson of the Georgia Strait Alliance. “We all need to become better stewards of the Strait and we hope this will bring attention to that goal.”

The swimmers have boats accompanying them with first aid, offering protection in the event of hypothermia. It is expected the solo swimmer will make landfall approximately 10-12 hours after entering the water on the Sechelt side. The relay team hopes to maintain speeds of 2 to 3 ½ km an hour, arriving, if the wind, currents and conditions are favourable, in under 10 hours.

Mr. Craig, who qualified last summer to swim the English Channel by swimming 25 kilometres in six hours in Howe Sound, considers this swim his rehearsal for his English Channel challenge later in July.

One of the escorts is John Dafoe, a well known environmental activist, guide and resident of the South Sunshine Coast. He escorted Donnelly on his 1992 record-setting ‘Save Georgia Strait’ swim crossing in support of Georgia Strait Alliance.”

July 3, 2010

Once again here is the “call” from our very own Brent Hobbs;

“I think John’s note sums up our experience perfectly.  It was epoch!  Congratulations to James and Rod for battling through Force 3 conditions at the start and the “demons” that occupy the mind from the 6 hour threshold until the finish.  It takes a team to make this happen.  Claire, Jim, Mike and Bill set the pace and kept Rod and James company.  Wendy did a fanstastic job of capturing the essence of the swim for the public (note: the environmental message was conveyed in Check TV’s coverage).  Our expert pilots (Richard/Dale, Scott and John) ensured that we achieved our goals safely and efficiently.  I was very impressed with their attention to detail.  Through South-Easterly winds and Force 3 conditions at the start, Westerly winds in the middle, and South-Easterly winds along Vancouver Island, our pilots worked tirelessly to ensure that we swam in a straight line through thick and thin–remarkable seamanship!  Also, a big thank you to all of you who took turns looking after Connor.  He had a great time on the sailboat, so much so that he wants to take sailing lessons.  Lastly, I want to thank Fin for his support.  Fin got the Rivershed Society of BC and the Georgia Strait Alliance to support our swim for an important environmental cause.  Fin is working tirelessly in the House of Commons to support endangered wild salmon stocks.  Having swum Georgia Strait and other significant “endangered” bodies of water, Fin is also an inspiration for marathon swimming.

I think this is a day that we will remember for the rest of our lives, and we did it for a good cause.  You can check out our coverage on Check TV news www.cheknews.ca.

For the record books.  According to the History of Open Water Marathon Swimming (Johnson, Tim, 2006), there have been 7 successful non-wet swims (English Channel rules) across the Strait of Georgia.  The record was set in 1967 by Mike Powley in a time of 9:23.  He swam from Neck Point just north of Departure Bay to Sechelt.  The second fastest swim was performed by Shane Collins of West Vancouver in 1998 in a time of 9:55.  James and Rod are now 2nd and 3rd in the record books.  Considering the adverse conditions, this is an incredible accomplishment!”

On June 12, 2010 I set out on training swim with friends from both the Okanagan Masters Swim Club and the North Vancouver Masters Swim Club.

I must thank Mike Stamhius (support swimmer for 3 hrs), Claire Booth (support swimmer 1.5 hrs), Brent Hobbs (spiritual advisor and support swimmer for 4.5hrs), Chris Falk (boat support and feeds), Steve Ott who supplied the boat and his time and my fiancé Bonnie who took this opportunity to test her “sea Legs” and practice preparing the carbohydrate energy mix (feeds) for Brent and I. This proved to be a great experience as she will be at the helm as far as feeding during the Channel swim.

The weather was a wonderful, sunny 26’F with a slight breeze from the North. The water temperature was somewhat cold at 60’F (15’C) and lake conditions were reasonably calm. I swam a total of 22-23km in 6 hrs and 10 mins: Overall, I was pleased with my performance.

Every swim I learn something new and gain valuable experience in the open water. Physically, I lasted well in the cold water, but at the four-hour mark my arms turned to concrete. I hope this is a bi-product of cold water and will disappear as the water warms by a couple of degrees. I did not experience the same leg cramps that I had in my previous six-hour swim and I attest this to the amount of electrolyte I am using. Mentally, I was fine, but did notice that I had to dig deep to maintain any sort of pace the last two hours. You have to get comfortable in that cold feeling…kind of like having the air conditioning stuck on high in the middle of winter.

On the last leg of our swim we were joined by “son of spiritual advisor” Conner.  Connor is seven years old and had no problem jumping in the cold lake and giving a hand at driving the boat. I can only imagine what will happen if he catches the same infliction that his father has…

To bring a perfect end to a great weekend Brent’s wife Joanne had us all over to their house for a wonderful dinner, including fresh lake trout as the main dish. I remember laying in bed that night thinking….”it’s so nice to be warm, full of good food and yes… I can sleep in!”.

Time is starting to race now. I have approx. 36 days before I have to be ready willing and able to swim the Channel. I have been thinking about this everyday for two years and the days are starting to come sooner than later. I have already started praying to the channel gods for good weather and an opportunity to attempt. This is not negative thinking it’s just that you have to prepare yourself for everything, including the weather not cooperating.

I have been in the ocean as much as I can these past two weeks and temperatures have been averaging about 56’F (13’C). Most of my swims are as long as I can take the cold (60 – 90mins), but I need a little warmer water so I can stay in for 2-3-4 hours at a time.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Cruisers Aquatic Club for their recent sponsorship towards my goal of swimming the English Channel. I am honored by their support and will do everything in my power to bring home some good news to share with the kids. Thanks again to Rob Fraser (lane 4), president of the Cruisers and Carole Randle for your support.

I recently attended the Cruisers annual pancake breakfast and had a chance to meet everyone, take a few pictures and introduce myself. I also managed to eat six pancakes.

“Cruisers Aquatics is a summer speed swimming, water polo, synchronized swimming and diving club located on the North Shore. We currently have about 150 boys and girls in our club, with our youngest athletes being 5 years of age. We practice at various North Vancouver recCenter pools, including William Griffin, Ron Andrews, and Harry Jerome. Membership is open to swimmers of all skill levels and abilities.”

This is a great group of kid’s and adults promoting a sport that I love. I am thrilled to have this connection with them and look forward to addressing the club with good news of a successful crossing.

I found out last week that I have pneumonia. I swam a week ago Sunday and felt pretty good, went to work on Monday and came home two hours early because I had the chills, and then managed to sleep for about twelve hours hoping to beat whatever I had. I was concerned as the BC Provincials Masters swim meet started that Friday. I went to my doctor and found out the bad news. When I asked if I could swim a 1500-meter free on Friday night he gave me that look – not a big fan of that look.  He said…”Rod not to long ago people with pneumonia had a 50% chance of living even at the best hospitals”.

We all deal with things in a different ways and I definitely did not want to fall into the poor me’s… “Pour me another drink”. I quickly took inventory, calculated the days before the Channel and had something to eat – if I can’t swim I will train in other ways!

Below are some of the quotes that help me surf the waves…

“What we do does not define who we are, what defines us is how we rise after falling”    -Unknown

“The Best Part is the Hard Part”   -Fred Coogan, Austin, TX

“All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dream with open eyes to make it possible”.   T.E. Lawrence

H2O: two parts Heart and one part Obsession

Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt. – William Shakespeare.

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for”. – William Greenough Thayer Shedd

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out when the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is no effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.  So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”     -Teddy Roosevelt

A month before my first cold water qualifying swim I had a conversation with a friend of mine. I was talking about the Channel and confessing my doubts about cold water. He let me rant on for about ten minutes without saying a word. When I finished there was a long pause and he said, “You know Rod…if a Samurai Warrior goes to battle with any doubt, he will die”. After another long pause, I thought…wow, bit dramatic, but there is a lesson here…

“Those who are reluctant to give up their lives and embrace death are not true warriors…Go to the battlefield firmly confident of victory, and you will come home with no wounds whatever. Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive: wish to survive in the battle and you surely meet death. When you leave the house determined not to see it again you will come home safely: when you have any thought of returning you will not return. You may not be in the wrong to think that the world is always subject to change, but the warrior must not entertain this way of thinking, for his fate is always determined.”     – Samurai Warrior

When we leave for Dover on the 9^th of July, suitcase in hand, I will look back at our house determined never to return…

I am still trying to put together the best nutrition before, during and after the long swim. My two cold water swims to date are the best example I have of proper feeding. This knowledge/information was handed down from my spiritual advisor Mr Hobbs and don’t forget…what ever Brent does or eats I do too! After all, he did swim the channel.

I have been successful with a high carbohydrate powder mixed with warm water. This is the quickest and easiest way to feed. It is of utmost importance that you get used to these feeds well in advance as they can take some time for your body to get used to. The quantity of mix is also critical as to much can overload and upset your system. The best thing to do is follow the manufactures recommended dosage levels. Right now I am using the Hammergel products for longer swims (Perpetuem, Recoverite, Hammer gel and Endurolytes).

For the channel I plan to feed every 20-30 minutes, depending on how I feel and my caloric needs. My support crew will throw a water bottle ahead of me; at the same time I will tread water, drink the mix, and start swimming as soon as possible. I really don’t want to feed longer than 15-20 seconds because the longer I take to feed the faster my core temperature will drop and the more susceptible to hyperthermia I will become. Feeding will be a mental break as well as physical; swimming from feed to feed is a pattern that can be something to look forward to.

I thought I would share my health wows with you. Before my first cold water attempt I had gained about 15 pounds, this was the good times of peanut butter, muffins, fast food and other great stuff, until I made the mistake of having my cholesterol checked and low and behold it was somewhat high. What a bummer for a future channel swimmer! I thought I could be large and in charge, eat until I could eat no more, pack on the pounds with no repercussions! Wrong… I will have to gain weight thru healthy eating. Brown rice, soya milk and other whole foods. My doctor was a bit shocked as he considered me one of his fitter clients, but cholesterol can be a genetic thing and sometimes this is the luck of the draw.

The above photos were taken on a cruise ship to Alaska. This was the Mecca for gaining weight…ow ya. I was on such a roll (no pun intended). I boarded the vessel and ate for two days straight, approximately ten meals, the third day I woke up at 4:00 am with what I thought was sea sickness, but it turned out to be Norwalk! That next two days were very intense. I was the only one of our group to actually lose weight. This never stopped me thou, I remember swimming in the ocean last summer and as I was into a 2 hour training swim and I looked over and saw this cruise ship, I was kind of bonking and remember muttering the words ”food boat”. I could have easily swam over and climbed aboard for lunch! So for now I will try to eat as healthy as I can, but will truly regret not being able to gain weight the easy way.

On Friday, March 12, I was lucky enough to participate in a freestyle swim clinic hosted by the Okanagan Masters Swim Club with special guest Karlyn Pipes-Neilson. In 2004 and 2007 Karlyn was voted the World Masters Swimmer of the Year and since 1993 she has set over 200 Masters World Records. For her complete BIO visit www.aquaticedge.org.

It was great to meet her in person and I came away with more than I had bargained for. The days of the old “S” stroke are surely a thing of the past and ever since the Australians started the high elbow catch there is no looking back. I thought I had that nailed, but Karlyn pointed out a few things…the majority of the stroke takes place in the front quadrant, you want to extend your arm out and away from centerline and “catch” the water with a slight pause and then pull your arm back with a high elbow break. The pull phase ends just before your hand reaches your hip minus the follow-thru. That was the simple version, and like a golf swing your stroke can be broken down even more incrementally.

This was a fair amount of information to digest in four hours, but Karlyn was right there if you needed help and did a great job with us. She has a video that I highly recommend as the clinic was organized around this. I am confident this stoke will make me a faster swimmer in the future.

In order to attempt the English Channel one must first qualify. The Channel Swimming Association asks for proof of a six hour, unassisted swim in water no greater than 15 degrees Celsius. (Without wetsuit).

On June 8, 2009 I attempted to qualify for the English Channel in Lake Okanagan. I was pulled from 12 degree Celsius water at 4 hours and 15 minutes into my swim. I will never forget the uncontrollable shaking and slurred speech l experienced due to moderate hyperthermia. Luckily the crew on board quickly had me wrapped in a sleeping bag and a warm drink in hand. I did eventually recover about an hour later and I remember watching my swim partner, 18-year-old Allison Donelon of Canmore, Alberta finish the six-hour, 25-kilometer swim. Allison would go on to successfully swim the channel in late August. Watching her stroke count the last two hours made me think that putting on weight was not the complete answer to cold water, but being in great shape was as important to keep your core temperature adequate to withstand the cold for long periods of time. I weighed about 216 pounds at the time and for my second cold-water swim I was in better shape and weighed 208 pounds.

September 20, 2009 – Second cold water attempt off Bowen Island.

The “call” by Brent Hobbs…

“I am pleased to announce that Rod the Rocket Craig has qualified to swim the English Channel! Rod swam for 6 hours, and not one minute more, in Howe Sound in 15’C water without a lifejacket! He looked very strong and battled some cold spots.  The water temperature averaged 14.5’C and dipped to about 13’C in Georgia Strait.  At that point, we made the decision to return to Howe Sound to find warmer water. That proved to be the right decision.  Rod hit the wall at 4.5 hours, but he dug deep and persevered with a little help from his friends.  At that time, we also upped his feeds from every 30 min. to every 15 min. This gave Rod something to look forward to.  Once we arrived at Hood Point, we set our sights on Boyer Island. This gave Rod an end-point / goal to stay focused on.  This was a big milestone in Rod’s journey to France! Go Rod go! I have recommended to Rod that he swim 6 hrs in Lake Okanagan next June.  Rod is due to swim the Channel in late July 2010”.

This was a great swim and taught me how to swim in cold water. I remember the 4.5-hour mark and wanting to rest because I was cold and tired, but I keep telling myself that this is the best time and place to mentally and physically train for the channel. It seems crazy, but you have to get 4-5 hours into a swim before the real training starts. I also learned that if I feel cold at the one or two-hour mark I don’t have to get out, if I keep moving I can generate enough heat to last six hours. I used to think that if your feeling cold and a little shaky you better get out.

I have to thank fellow training partner Frank Koch for his boat and patience in piloting this cold water swim, John Sommers for his help as a crewman, cameraman and always witty commentary and Brent Hobbs for his assistance on the boat and in the water…Cheers to all!

On December 19, 2009 I had the great pleasure to swim 100 x 100’s at a fund raising event for the YWCA/YMCA Strong Kids Campaign in Kelowna, BC. This was a great excuse to swim 10km on a 1:25:00/100m pace time and satisfied my spiritual advisor as one of the many ways to train for the Channel. If you watch the video… Brent Hobbs, the “Kid” and myself all took turns taking the lead and possibly, drafted one another. The “Kid” got out at seventy and left the two old guys to finish…we like to think he couldn’t take what the “old guys” were handing out…