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| Ted Erikson |
I just read an article in Discovery News about Joe Locke, who is attempting to swim across the Red Triangle. While I found this article to be really interesting, as I love reading about people pushing their limits, what really caught my attention was this paragraph:
"Locke crossed the English Channel last year, but plenty of people have done that. If he succeeds on this challenge, he'll become the second person ever to solo-swim the Red Triangle route. The last time someone pulled and kicked across the whole thing was in 1967, when swimmer Ted Erikson finished with a time of 14 hours and 38 minutes."
It immediately reminded me about my Big Shoulders swim in 2007. It was my first(and only) time I have swam that event and while I was reviewing the race results, I was shocked!! to see who placed 4 places AHEAD of me. I finished 64th overall, but a man by the name of Ted Erikson finished at 60th overall. Why is that shocking you may be asking yourself?? Well at the time, Ted Erikson was 79 years old. Yes you read that correctly! I was in the best swimming shape I have been in in over 15 years and a 79 year old man beat me. So I started researching and discovered that Ted Erikson is one of the greatest open water swimmers ever. You should take the time to read about the accomplishments of Ted and his dog, Umbra. They are absolutely amazing!
