Two Drumheller swimmers are taking the plunge into one of the biggest competitions in their lives.
On Wednesday, May 15, Austin and Parker Knibb, 17 and 15-years-old, respectively, headed to San Francisco to participate in the 21st annual SharkFest swim on May 19.
“It’s something the Airdrie (swimming) group wanted to do and asked us if we wanted to go along,” said Austin.
The race takes 800 swimmers on a 2.4 kilometre swim from the famed Alcatraz Island to the shore of San Francisco Bay.
“This is our first open water swim as a club. It differs quite a bit from other swim events, because you have to swim with currents, swells, sharks, and freezing cold water,” said Austin.
Brothers Parker (left), 15, and Austin, 17, will be diving into shark-filled waters on May 19 for the 21st annual Alcatraz SharkFest. The 2.4 kilometre swim will take the two, along with nearly 800 other swimmers, from Alcatraz to the shores of San Francisco Bay. The waters surrounding San Francisco are thought to be densely populated with sharks.
Waters are estimated to be roughly 17 degrees celsius on average.
There is also another danger to consider.
“It’s the second largest population of sharks in the world,” said Austin. “I think you just have to be faster than the other person, but there are a lot of people and they take every precaution.”
Austin added that Parker was feeling a little nervous after watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.
Both brothers are very active swimmers, having started training seven years ago, are members of the Badlands Aquatic Club, and are hoping to head to nationals once again to compete.
“As far as swimming goes, hopefully we’ll make it to nationals this year. They’ve upped the requirements quite a bit, but I have good hopes for it,” said Austin.
Austin hopes to keep swimming and that SharkFest might open the door to other events around the world.
“We’ll see if I can get a scholarship in swimming. I’ve come this far, it’d be a shame to quit now,” said Austin. “This is probably a door to do other events. We’ll do this again next year, hopefully. We’ll see how it goes.”
