Swimming history was made Friday night as the Ventura Deep Six Relay Team set a new record for the longest continuous open-water relay swim.
Jim Neitz was trudging through the darkness somewhere near Point Dume at 11:45 p.m. when the team passed the previous mark of 78.2 miles, which was a triple crossing on a lake in New Zealand in 2009.
Jim McConica followed Neitz for the midnight swim.
Each swimmer is doing a one hour leg in the water.
The Deep Six is attempting to put the record out of reach with a goal of swimming 202 miles nonstop to La Jolla Cove. The team of McConica, Neitz, Tom Ball, Kurtis Baron, Dr. John Chung and Mike Shaffer started Thursday at 6 a.m. at Ventura Harbor. They swam up the coast to Santa Barbara’s Stearn’s Wharf before heading south.
Chung, Shaffer and Ball have Santa Barbara ties. Chung practices dentistry in Santa Barbara, Shaffer is a former UCSB All-American swimmer and Ball is longtime Santa Barbara area beach lifeguard.
All six members belong to the Ventura County Masters swim team and the Buenaventura Swim Club. They hope to reach La Jolla by Monday.
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The team has endured frigid and choppy water conditions and thick fog through most of the swim.
“That will make the record more of a momentous thing because of the conditions,” said Michael Newhouse, the media liaison for the team.
Newhouse said the swimmers have been getting one to three hours of sleep between shifts. He said it takes them about an hour to warm up once they’re on the boat, the Pacific Monarch, then they eat something before trying to sleep.
One of the things that has helped keep their momentum going and spirits high is the tremendous support they’re receiving from Facebook followers around the world. Newhouse said one message came from as far as South Africa.
Supporters also have ventured out in boats to cheer them on.
It’s been remarkable. The guys deserve it,” said Newhouse.
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