My best friend, Scott Belland, took these photos. I have known him since I was 6-years-old and we have never gone more than month without talking to each other.
He was on the rescue kayak staff at the Alcatraz Sharkfest that day and snapped some great photos as witnessed above.
Most of my friends are creative types and it comes in handy when they are photographers. Scott will have a website soon and you will be able to see all his wonderful surf and nature photography. Last year he had an open water shot appear in Sports Illustrated in their Olympic preview addition.
The first photo is what the last 400-meters looks like: the water is choppy and it's the entrance to Aquatic Park, the place where the sprint begins and people are willing to swim on top of each other to get to those orange balls off in the distance.
The second photo illustrates how the swimmers exit the boat, two-by-two, and in very much of a hurry.
I posted the third one reluctantly of me only to show how wide and dispersed the start is. I think the Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim is one of the safest open water starts of any race I have ever swam. The unloading of the second boat is not in the frame.
The fourth photo illustrates the chop and please believe when I say that this swim is a lot harder than it looks. It is the hardest race you will ever do under 2-miles.
The lingerie model on the circular billboard is Eva Mendes wearing a Calvin Klein tech-suit. The ad is roughly 10-feet-tall and you will never see an ad like this run in a Los Angeles bus shelter for there would be glass all over the streets.
When Michael Jordon did that Bugs Bunny movie last decade hundreds of bus shelter windows were destroyed so as to get that poster. Little did the thieves know you could get for free once the contract was up.
After I did the race, Scott and I went to the Fisherman's Wharf Aquarium and since Scott knew I am fascinated by jelly fish, he shot these photos for me.
BTW, I am now using cloth bags when I go to the grocery store after visiting this aquarium. I learned that plastic litter bags our oceans and sea turtles and birds are dying en masse as a result mistaking the plastic bags as jellyfish. By using cloth bags, less plastic makes it wat to the ocean.
I really like San Francisco and I admire the culture and the sense of community there. There is a radio station I found that plays lots of techno-club music called Energy 92.7. It's a nice station, great for getting amped-up for a race.
5 comments:
I confess I'm relieved to read the explanation for the (beautiful) jellyfish photos. I'm about to do an Alcatraz swim soon, and was concerned that Scott may have captured what lurks in the water!
Whatever is under the water, you won't see it. The water is green this time of year. ;-)
Just the kind of pictures I wish I had been able to take. Thanks to Scott for the great perspective on such a fun day!
As avid a swimmer as you are Tony, I was surprised to read that you just learned that plastic in the water is bad for ocean life. If you want to learn more - here's a pretty cool infographic on the Pacific garbage patch killing the marine ecosystem:
http://awesome.good.is/transparency/web/0905/trans0509throughthegyre.html
I knew plastic was bad for the ocean by way of petrochemicals and "death zones." but I didn't know that the primary reason was that grocery bags are mistaken for jelly fish which has subsequently devastated turtles and birds who think they are food.
Now consider this, I have been surfing most of life, competing in open water ocean swims and I feel extraordinarily guilty if I only swim three days in a week throughout the year.
Knowing that, just think how many people don't know what you have learned about plastic bags and the ocean?
Thank you for the link, when I get some down time at work I will look at it. :-)
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