Adventurer of the week: Andrew Malinak swims across Strait of Juan de Fuca
The “Summer of Bert,” as he calls it, ended precisely the way Seattle ultraswimmer Andrew Malinak hoped. On Sept. 7, Malinak, 28, became just the eighth known person to swim unassisted across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
He needed less than 7 hours to make the 11-mile crossing and atone for an unsuccessful attempt in 2013. It also capped a summer of marathon swims inspired by accomplished Tacoma distance swimmer Bert Thomas. In 1955, Thomas was the first person to swim across the strait.
In June, Malinak swam 18.8 miles from Tacoma to Seattle along the west side of Vashon Island. He needed 8 hours, 43 minutes. In August, he swam around Bainbridge Island. He made that 26.5-mile trip in 12 1/2 hours. Conditioned to swim in the cold water, he wore only goggles, a swim cap and a pair of pink Budgy Smuggler swimming briefs for all three trips.
Including training, he swam 380 miles in 2015 by the time he took a breather and talked to The News Tribune:
Q: Were you nervous going in to this after not finishing in 2013?
I felt really confident the week or two before. I felt as if I was as ready as I could possibly be. The summer that led up to it had really helped to make me feel ready. The Tacoma swim was long and cold. The Bainbridge swim was warm, but longer than I’ve ever swam by about three hours. (Those swims) made this swim just a tiny little swim. Just 11 miles. … But as the day approached, (the weather) looked worse and worse.
Q: What was your biggest concern?
Fog (fog and currents thwarted his 2013 crossing). We didn’t have any, but we did have a lot of wind and rain the night before. Even at the start there was still, somebody said, 25-knot winds, which make for some pretty rough waves. Even in the first hour of the swim, I was concerned the boat was going to come over to me and the captain was going to say, ‘Hey, it’s too rough, you have to get out.’
Q: How cold was the water?
The crew did not tell me the water temperature, I just kept telling myself it was 50-51 (degrees). Turns out it was actually 48-49. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they told me. … It certainly wasn’t warm.
Q: What was it like when you realized you were going to make it this time?
At one point, I looked up and I could see the shore and it was very obvious at that point that this is actually going to happen and, wow, I don’t have to do this again next year if I don’t want to. It was great to get out and just enjoy this. It was the culmination of 2 1/2 years of effort and all-consuming focus on one thing. The goal of last year was to get me ready for this year. And the goal of this year was to get me ready for that swim. I’ve only lived in Seattle (he’s originally from New York) a week longer than I’ve been training for this swim. … I’m not quite to the stage where it has really sunk in yet.”
Q: What’s next?
I’m not really sure what my next step is, but at this stage it doesn’t matter. It is necessary to take some time off and relax and find other things to do for a little bit before I pick the next big thing.
To recommend somebody for the Adventurer of the Week, email craig.hill@thenewstribune.com.
This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Adventurer of the week: Andrew Malinak swims across Strait of Juan de Fuca."