Wednesday, April 14, 2004, 9:01 am Eastern Time
For Immediate Release
SOURCE:
Distance Matters, Inc.
Meet the Competitors of the Seventh Annual 24 Mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim
CLEARWATER, FL--A record number of swimmers have entered the Seventh Annual
Tampa Bay Marathon Swim to be held on Saturday, April 17. The 24 mile
competition starts at 7:30 am from the Sunshine Skyway at the Holiday Inn Sunspree
Resort (800 227 8045) and ends at Ben T. Davis Beach on the Courtney Campbell
Causeway. The race course covers the entire length of Tampa Bay.
Fifty-five participants have entered either as soloists or as relay swimmers.
Thirteen individual swimmers and thirteen relay teams will compete for honors.
Since this event was first staged in 1998, it has drawn competitors from across
the United States, and from England, Dominican Republic, Germany, India, Canada,
and the Cayman Islands.
SOLO SWIMMERS
| Dave Parcells, 44, of Madison,
Connecticut is the defending
champion, and will compete for the 6th consecutive time. In
2002, he became the oldest person ever to successfully complete a double
crossing of the English Channel (21 hours, 30 minutes). |
| Rose Rice Fields, 30, Poulsbo,
Washington has been an international competitor
for several years and should challenge for top finisher overall. |
| Michelle Davidson, 33, Oakhurst,
New Jersey has swum the 28.5 Mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim twice (2000
& 2003). |
| Gilles Chalandon, 47, of New York
City, New York finished third at the 28.5 Mile
Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in 2002 (8 hrs., 4 min., 44 sec.). |
| Denis Crean, 43, of
Washington, DC has placed in the top 10 at
US Masters Nationals each of the past 5 years in the 1000 yard freestyle. |
| Nancy Steadman Martin, 49, of Oceanport, New
Jersey has completed the 28.5 Mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim 3 times.
|
| Joe Wolf, 36, of Denver, Colorado
is making his first attempt to swim Tampa Bay. In August, 2003,
at the 22.5 Mile Atlantic City Around the Island Swim, he was forced out
by a referee "for a little puking." |
| Laura Colette, 40, of San Jose, California
returns to Tampa after successfully completing the swim in 2002 (13 hours,
20 minutes) and 2003 (14 hours, 23 minutes). She has competed in the Santa
Cruz to Monterey relay, Llyn
Padarn, Wales, and has swum the 22 mile Loch Loman in Scotland.
|
| Richard Flambard, 35, of Jersey,
United Kingdom has swum the English Channel
twice (1989 and 2003), and has swum the 41 miles around Jersey Island 4
times. |
| Kevin Flynn, 43, of Westempton,
New Jersey swims for Pennypack Aquatic and Fitness Club and hopes to finish
his first marathon swim event. |
| Joseph Van Horn, 68,
of Canton, Ohio lettered in swimming at Ohio
State University in 1958. He has completed 5 Ironman-distance triathlons.
|
| Hal Clarendon, 58, of Gainesville, Florida
is the editor and publisher of Outdoor Adventure Magazine. He will be making
his fifth attempt to complete the Tampa Bay swim, hoping to make the entire
24 mile distance for the first time. |
RELAY SWIMMERS
| Rip Tide are Brian Rimel, 37, and Tim Kennedy,
47, of St. Petersburg, Florida. Both are top-ranked distance swimmers that
compete for the St. Petersburg
Masters Swim Team. In 1999, Kennedy completed the Tampa Bay
Marathon as a soloist (10 hours, 42 minutes). |
| Tampa Bay Aquatic Club of Tampa, Florida
is represented by Joe Solak, 39, Clara Reynolds, 34, and Tom Rawls, 36.
They are competing in their fifth consecutive Tampa Bay Marathon Swim as
a three-person relay team. |
| SoCal Kao lele are Bill Ireland, 44, Forrest
Nelson, 38, and Craig Taylor, 51, of Laguna Niguel, California. All three represent
teams from the Los Angeles area and compete in all the major west coast
distance swimming events. |
| Jersey Long Distance Swim Club are
Sally Minty-Gravett, 46, Charlie Gravett, 60, Katharine Clark, 19,
and Dario Parmesan, 40. They are from the United Kingdom, and represent
the Jersey Long Distance Swim Club. |
| A Beauty and 3 Beasts are
John Cox, 69, Robert Beach, 73, David McCord, 55, Pam Geiger, 51.
They swim for the St.
Petersburg Masters swim team. |
| Brighton Beach Memoirs are Cristian Vergara,
45, Bonnie Schwartz, 24, Lori Carena, 50, and James Meier, 59, of New York
City, New York. They are members of the Metro Masters Swim Club. |
| The Eulers - Father and Son are
Dr. Herbert Euler, 36, and Dr. Konrad Euler, 68, of St. Petersburg,
Florida. In 2002, Konrad became the oldest person to complete the
Tampa Bay Marathon Swim at the age of 66. |
| TRI Swimming are Tim Moore,
51, Tiger Mills, 49, Diane Sweetapple, 46, Janell Cory, 49, and Dawn
Clark, 38 of St. Petersburg, Florida. They are members of the St.
Pete Maddogs Triathlon Team. |
| Joe's Groupers are Barbra
Lewis, 42, Anne Coen, 61, Bill Van Horn, 65, from Canton, Ohio. They
swim with the O*H*I*O Masters Swim Team.. |
| All Action, No Motion are
James Scott, 31, and Mark Rosenberg, 39 of London, England. |
| Shoals Sharks are Rick Elliott, 51, Rachel
Giles, 24, Jay Powers, 43, Bradford Lynch, 46, John Landon, 55, and Tim
Zeulke, 45. They swim for the Shoals Sharks Masters Swim Team in Muscle
Shoals, Alabama. |
| # 9 Relay Team are Mike Embry, 56, John Neukamm,
43, David Kirkam, 49, Jim Zinner, 48, Barton Cobb, 49. They are endurance
athletes from the Tampa Bay area. |
| Tampa Tarpons are Kevin Norris, 42,
Nancy Lyn Ash, 30, and Chad Carson, 33 of Tampa, Florida. They swim
for the Tampa Tarpons Masters Swim Team. |
Complete information including all results and event history is available
at www.distancematters.com.
The Tampa Bay Marathon Swim is presented by DistanceMatters.com, a Clearwater
Web Design and Network Engineering firm owned by Event Director Ron Collins.
SOURCE: Distance Matters, Inc.
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