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< Sept/Oct 2000
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Swimmers of the Century

We could hardly pay tribute to "Paddlers of the Century" (Jan/Feb 2000) without honoring a few of their carping counterparts. Although it might not provide accolades they'll tell their grandchildren, following is a look at a few of the country's Swimmers of the Century.

Vladmir Kovalik, Myrna Wilkins, and Marvin Stevens

In the early 1960s Vladmir Kovalik, Myrna Wilkins, and Marvin Stevens were so fascinated by Oregon's Rogue River at Galice that they bought wetsuits, life jackets and helmets, put their gear in a rubber bag, and jumped in. Three days later they reached the Pacific. Kovalik remembers one frightening submersion, when he dropped over Rainie Falls tethered to the gear bag, which was still in slow water 70 feet behind him. Kovalik was so awed by the Rogue's beauty he pressed Congressman Leon Panetta to submit it for Wild and Scenic River status. It became America's first.

--brad dimock

Harry Aleson/Georgi White

Contrary to popular belief, river runners Georgi White and Harry Aleson got their starts on the Colorado River not in rafts, but in lifejackets. In 1945 they hiked in at Diamond Creek with a malt can of instant coffee, hard candy and dehydrated soup. With the river spewing 50,000 cfs of mud and logs, they leapt in. Initially separated and nearly drowned, they soon adopted a wrist-lock tandem method. They were back the next year, hiking overland to Parashant Canyon for a longer Canyon attempt. With a small one-man raft and the river at 35,000, they found themselves swimming more than rafting. The feats are outlined in Rivers of the Grand Canyon, with Aleson maintaining the swim was performed to prove to potential clients that it was indeed possible to swim out of the big Ditch.

--bd

Bill Beer/John Daggett

Although countless people have used the river for involuntary swim practice, this year marks the 45th anniversary of one of swimming's greatest feats: the first top-to-bottom swim of the Grand Canyon, made by Bill Beer and John Daggett. Setting off from Lee's Ferry in April 1955 with little more than rubber shirts, diving masks, wool longjohns and radio boxes filled with camping gear and food, the soggy duo learned about whitewater the way fish do: from the bottom up. Breathless and beaten, they spent countless hours on shore nursing bruises and warding off hypothermia. Since such a descent is now illegal, unless someone takes a long unintentional swim, their record will remain untouched.

On a sad note, Beer passed away June 10, 2000, in an ultralight accident. “He was truly an amazing man and river runner,” says long-time friend Brad Dimock. “In addition to his famous swim, he made several other Grand Canyon trips in a variety of boats, including a Chris Craft.”

Jamie James/Gail Ater/Paul Lundgren/Roy Akin (AKA the "Sockeye Swimmers")

Most people would be happy enough simply floating the Salmon and Snake rivers. Idaho's Jamie James, Gail Ater, Paul Lundgren and Roy Akin (AKA the "Sockeye Swimmers") took it a step further in 1995 by swimming 500 miles on the two waterways to call attention to the rivers' salmon crises. The foursome took 25 days to accomplish the feat, becoming the first people to swim the length of the Salmon, the longest free-flowing river in the Lower 48. The last few days, says James, now 46, were the toughest--especially once they hit Lower Granite Dam, 40 miles downstream from the Idaho border. There, their progress slowed to six miles a day, compared to 30 miles a day in the river's free-flowing portion upstream. "You don't know what it means to have a river dammed until you swim a reservoir," he says. "The last five days were a nightmare."

Corran Addison

Corran Addison is included only because last year, while paddling Quebec's Rogue River at flood, he took his first swim in 13 years. "I was on the Seven Sisters Falls section at full flood and I paddled back up to play in this humongous hole," he says. "The first two times were fine, but the third time I got the living tar beat out of me." Eventually his skirt blew and he washed out, as did his boat walls. "I was hovering about a foot below the surface, and eventually I ran out of air so I kicked out," he says. "It was all quite peaceful really--I just popped to the surface, grabbed the kayak and swam for shore. But I was definitely out of practice--rounding up my gear was an ordeal."

Katie Lee

Few swims have been as provocative as that of Cayonlands pioneer Katie Lee, who knew Glen Canyon (now in cold storage beneath Lake Powell) better than anyone. In her myriad trips she spent more time out of the boats than in, reveling in the beauty, sensuality and sexuality of the warm, muddy rivers. "I'm just bobbing along in my lifejacket, letting the San Juan have its way with me," she writes, "when I feel a change, a kind of nudge in the current. On the surface, the color turns a darker red, a boil bubbles under my chin, and I hear a whisper in the water as it swishes between my legs...the Mighty Colorado!"

--bd

Manfred Kraus

In August 1988, Germany's Manfred Kraus hired a commercial motor raft to escort his swim through the Grand Canyon. Wearing a wetsuit, lifejacket and swim fins, he scouted each major rapid with the guides, then swam after the rig as an odd sort of commercial passenger. Why the swim? "I have a boring job," he says. "I want to change my life." He also hoped to prove that James White could have drifted through the Canyon in 1867 on (and off) a log raft in 14 days--a claim contested for 120 years. Despite long, lonely flat stretches and a few scary rapids, Kraus made it in the 14-day time frame. So, most likely, did White.

--bd

Team C

Anyone who has seen last year's Silent Thunder, the Legend of Team C--an amateur video produced by amateur paddlers who feel they're not worthy of joining Dagger's prestigious Team D--knows that the entire cast deserves accolades for their swimming prowess. Filmed throughout the West and Southeast, the video, which won the “Humor,” “Paddler's Choice” and “Best of” categories at the 1999 National Paddling Film Festival, showcases less-than-stellar paddlers taking more-than-stellar swims on some of the nation's toughest runs--including an epic, 13-roll-attempt swim on Colorado's Gore Canyon. According to producer and distributor John Weld of Immersion Research, filmmaker Rick Gusic is known for showcasing "skilled to moderately skilled paddlers getting trashed in gigantic rapids."

Wanted Swim Stories

Have an epic swim tale from you or a buddy? If so, we want to hear from you. Send in your account and if your story is soggy enough to be included in our contest, we'll reward you with a free subscription to Paddler and a free pair of noseplugs for your next visit to the underworld. Keep entries to 250 words and send to: Paddler Swim Contest, P.O. Box 775450, Steamboat Springs, Co 80477; (970) 870-1404 (fax); bieline@paddlermagazine.com.