Swimming by the hour kept Deep 6 going for 202 miles

“Just one hour. Just one hour. Just one hour. Just one hour, Just one hour. Just one hour.”

That was the mantra the six members of the Ventura Deep Six Relay Team repeated in their heads when it was their turn to jump into the chilly, dark and deep Pacific Ocean in their quest to complete a nonstop 202-mile adventure and shatter the world record for continuous open-water swim by a relay team.

Mike Shaffer tags Dr. John Chung to take over as the next swimmer on the Ventura Deep Six Relay Team's 202-mile swim to La Jolla. (@2010Gizararts.com photo).

On Monday, just before noon, Jim McConica (59), Kurtis Baron (46), Dr. John Chung (40), Mike Shaffer (45), Tom Ball (50) and Jim Neitz (42), swimming in one-hour intervals and in the same order, completed the distance from Ventura Harbor up to Santa Barbara’s Stearns Wharf and then down the coast to La Jolla Cove in San Diego in five days and four nights.

The old record was 78.2 miles, set on a triple crossing of Lake Taupo in New Zealand last January.

The six masters swimmers from the Buenaventura Swim Club blew that record out of the water.

It was during those nights far out at sea that the mantra made a big difference for the Ventura Deep Six, said Chung, a dentist in Santa Barbara and Goleta.

Chung, in an interview with Presidiosports.com, said he had some doubts about completing the quest after the first day — he had the honor of making the turn at Stearns Wharf.

“It was really, really cold,” he said of the water that Thursday (the swimmers were not allowed to wear wetsuits). “I thought, ‘I’ve been colder before,’ but what was going on in my head was this was one of many swims and I was a little concerned because we had a long way to go. When I got out (of the water) I was shivering pretty hard, so I was like, ‘What are we getting ourselves into?’ “

His teammates helped him stay strong and focused.

“The truth is the guys on the team said, ‘Just one hour. It’s just one hour.’ That’s kind of how we took it. We got out of our minds it’s going to be at least 15 to 19 swims (it took 17 rotations). We just kept thinking, ‘It’s just one hour.’ I think that got us through the rough spots.”

And, there were a few rough patches along the way.

Chung said the support crew was learning on the fly, which created some anxiety in the early going.

The support group was aboard the mother ship, the Pacific Monarch, another escort boat and two inflatable Zodiacs.

“It was a challenge for the crew,” Chung said. “They were really great and professional but what was tough was there is no manual for this type of swim. There was no protocol.  It took a while to get the adjustments, but they did a great job of working it out. (The journey) got smoother as we went along. It got smoother in transitions and getting in and out of the water.”

Chung was in the middle of a night swim when the observer boat ran out of gas. As he floated and waited for the boat to be refueled, he said he felt “a little tug or nip” on his body.

Freaked out, he started frantically circling the boat until it was ready to resume the course.

“I was like, ‘Can somebody make sure there is gas in the boat at night?’ ” he said in a sarcastic tone. “Can we please have a protocol?”

The night swims were a true test of the swimmers’ nerve. Imagine being in complete darkness, floating in the middle of the ocean, unable to see your hand in front of you, and not knowing what’s underneath you.

“That was pretty challenging,” Chung said. “There was an observer boat there, but it had to keep a certain distance. It was pretty spooky. If your hand ran into whatever, seaweed or something like that, it would just freak you out. ‘What was that?’

“That was the worst part, not knowing what the heck I hit. That was really freaky.”

That’s when the “just one hour” mantra probably turned to “Shaffer!”

Mike Shaffer followed Chung in the rotation, and when Chung saw the light of his teammate’s headlamp getting closer in the water, he felt a huge relief.

“Mike was my best friend that whole night,” Chung said of the former UCSB All-American swimmer. “I couldn’t wait to see him jump in and see that little light. ‘Oh, my goodness. Thank God he is here.’ ”

He said Shaffer “was a machine” when he got in the water. “He really stretched the yardage out. He was just awesome. He was just a strong swimmer the whole way through. He inspired me.”

All the team members inspired each other.

“With this group of guys the feeling was, ‘I’m not going to let you down and I know you’re not going to let me down,’ ’’ Chung said. “That helped when things got tough, scary and cold, especially at night, when you had jellyfish stings here and there.”

That camaraderie was key that first day when their progress was slowed by a strong current, cold water and fog.

“Everybody stayed positive. That was the key. ‘We can do it. We trained for this.’ “ Chung said. “We knew each other. It wasn’t like six ringers coming together from all over. I know these guys. I know I’ve got to be there for them.”

He thanked his wife for her great support and all of the team’s followers on Facebook. The Ventura Deep Six Relay Team page drew more than 1,200 visitors in the five days of the swim.

“There was a lot of love from a lot of people,” said Chung. “It was great.”

Photos courtesy of Gizararts.com