As of July 1st we are fully crewed and ready to swim!

If you can provide a backup support vessel (big boat) please contact me. (It's always nice to have a backup plan)

While this swim is a goal of mine, it is so much bigger than myself. The Willamette belongs to all of us, and so does this swim. The route begins at Clackamette Park in Oregon City and ends at Kelley Point in North Portland. Last year, 2021, it took a crew of thirteen people to pull it off. This year, since we will have a big boat with us we plan on having a much smaller crew, ideally two crew "teams" of 4 who will swap out after 7.5 hours.

The biggest change from 2021 to this year's swim is that in 2022 we are following the Marathon Swimmers Federation rules for documentation. This means no buoy, the tracker must stay with me at all times in a support boat, support swimmers may only accompany me for no more than an hour at a time, and there must be continuous structured observation throughout the swim. The rules are more complicated than that, but not by much, it really comes down to correctly filling out all documentation to confirm that the swim is complete in the spirit, and tradition, of unassisted marathon swimming. One of my hopes for this swim is that successful official documentation will draw more ultra-distance marathon swimmers to Portland to experience the full scope of the Lower Willamette.

A swim this long (about 24.8 miles) takes a whole team of people to pull it off. I may be the person swimming, but there is a dedicated team working together to make this happen.

For a swim of this distance, there are a lot of responsibilities.

• Observers: More than one ovserver is recommneded for swims over 10 hours. We to have three observers who will trade out after 4-6 hours.

• Kayakers/paddlers: Having two paddlers in the water at all times is ideal, especially through downtown.

• Backup support vessel and pilot: We will have a big boat joining us at Sellwood that will complete the course, ideally we will have a backup pilot and boat available. - STILL NEEDED as of 7/14/2022

• Help with preparing for the swim:

  • Making feeds

  • Transporting kayaks

  • Moving cars is also needed.

Feeding the crew is also a place where I could use some help. If you are a baker or an expert sandwich maker, I greatly appreciate any help putting together snacks, lunch, and dinner.