Santa Barbara’s Mark Warkentin was on pace to break the record for the 28.5-mile swim around New York’s Manhattan Island on Friday, but wind and choppy water down the stretch in the East River slowed his progress and he fell short
He did, however, earn a satisfying victory in the four-swimmer race.
Warkentin, a 2008 Olympian in open-water swimming, covered the course in 6 hours, 16 minutes, 37 seconds. He beat three-time Olympian and English Channel record-holder Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria (6:28.23) and Rondi Davies of Australia (6:43.23). Tobey-Anne Saraceno from Rye, N.Y., didn’t finish the race that started under the Triborough Bridge.
The swimmers were chasing the record of 5:45.25, set by Shelley Taylor-Smith in 1995.
“The record was going to take care of itself. The important thing was to beat Petar, the greatest marathon swimmer (over the last 10 years),” Warkentin told Steven Munatones of the Daily News of Open Water Swimming. “ I am ready to get back to normal marathon swimming — where I can see the turn buoys, swimmers around me and race in daylight.”
The race started in daylight and finished at night.
“It was tough swimming at night. Sometimes, I could not even see my kayakers. They gave me hand signals and I couldn’t even see which way to go,” Warkentin said.
The swimmers also had to deal with unfavorable weather and water conditions.
According to Munatones, they traveled vertically for much of the race, sloshing through waves and navigating through tricky currents.
“As we came around Battery Park, I was waiting for that last current. My kayakers told me that we had a half mile to go, so I was thinking it would take 8-10 minutes. But it was another 20 minutes before I reached the finish,” Warkentin said.
His game plan for the race was to start fast and push the pace against Stoychev. He wound up going out too fast and the Bulgarian caught up to him.
“Right when Petar came up to me, I was getting my speech ready about how it is not so bad to lose to a guy like Petar,” Warkentin said. “At one point, I was not feeling good and ready to pack it in.”
But he got a second wind when Stoychev took a feeding break.
“Suddenly, we had a 25-yard separation — not that I was necessarily ahead of him by 25 yards, but we were simply separated by 25 yards. That gave me a second wind,” Warkentin said.
Story includes information from the Daily News of Open Water Swimming.
