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What were they thinking?

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
I don't know if anyone saw the article about the 9 year old kid who made the infamous swim from Alcatraz to shore. It got me to thinking, what kind of parent would let their 9 year son swim through the SF Bay? Not only is the water extemely cold, but it is shark infested water...sounds like child abuse to me, or at least neglect. I will see if I can find the article.
 

ridetoofast

scarred, broken and drunk
Mar 31, 2002
2,095
5
crashing at a trail near you...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051010/ap_on_fe_st/young_swimmer

SAN FRANCISCO - A nine-year-old boy has just finished a pretty tough morning swim — from Alcatraz to San Francisco.
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Johnny Wilson, from Hillsborough, made the 1.4-mile swim in under two hours, braving choppy morning waters and rough winds in a portion of the San Francisco bay known to have sharks as well.

Wilson's classmates were waiting for him on shore, cheering as he made it all the way to Aquatic Park.

His effort raised about $30,000 for the Red Cross Katrina Hurricane Victims Fund.

Wilson said the toughest part of the swim was the beginning, because it was cold and windy.
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
If I had a kid I am not sure I'd be letting him do that. I think that he should at least reach adulthood before seriously risking his life on stunts.

How bad are the sharks though? The distance isn't tremendous, but the cold and sharks can make it tough. It's hard swimming when your leg is bitten off.
 

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
ridetoofast said:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051010/ap_on_fe_st/young_swimmer

SAN FRANCISCO - A nine-year-old boy has just finished a pretty tough morning swim — from Alcatraz to San Francisco.
ADVERTISEMENT

Johnny Wilson, from Hillsborough, made the 1.4-mile swim in under two hours, braving choppy morning waters and rough winds in a portion of the San Francisco bay known to have sharks as well.

Wilson's classmates were waiting for him on shore, cheering as he made it all the way to Aquatic Park.

His effort raised about $30,000 for the Red Cross Katrina Hurricane Victims Fund.

Wilson said the toughest part of the swim was the beginning, because it was cold and windy.
I didn't read the entire article; I missed the part about his efforts raising $30,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina. This kid must be an amazing swimmer, it's a real accomplishment for an adult swimmer to make it across the Bay...
 

ridetoofast

scarred, broken and drunk
Mar 31, 2002
2,095
5
crashing at a trail near you...
i agree. the only thing i can come up with is that he is a) too young to realized that he 'cant' do it b) the resiliency of youth.

either way big big :thumb: to this cat, who knows what the future holds for him if he can swim like that???
 

hooples3

Fuggetaboutit!
Mar 14, 2005
5,245
0
Brooklyn
I saw the clip on the news.. first I was amazed and then I was thinking the same thing.. who would let their son do something like that
 

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
I'd let my kid do that. I'm sure there was a follow boat with a spotter and a life gaurd. When sharks attack, they typically hit their prey first, rather than simply start eating. In addition, the follow boat could easily have one of those fish finder things, that many fishermen use. I'd imagine it would be easier for radar to find a shark than a minnow. If there's a shark nearby, he gets out of the water, eats a brownie, drinks some milk, and waits for the shark to go away.
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
The kid WANTED to do it, I do not see the problem???

I went motoing in the desert last week with some friends, one of my buddies brought his 10 yr old with us, he rode for 6 hours with us on the trails, is that wrong too? Do not think I ever saw a kid have so much fun.
The kid who swam the bay, his parents were in a boat right next to him...sounds like you are one of those over protective americans.
 
stiksandstones said:
The kid WANTED to do it, I do not see the problem???.........sounds like you are one of those over protective americans.
i'm with stik, my kid will be boostin' doubles when he is barely old enough to ride a bike. i can only imagine the huckworthyness of him by the time he reaches 9 years of age....


so, now that you know it's for charity, that makes it ok to you, when before it wasn't? what an oppressor....
 

rooftest

Monkey
Jul 10, 2005
611
0
OC, CA
I hear the shark threat is overblown... they do have a triathalon that starts on Alcatraz every year. I bet the chance of getting eaten by a shark there is the same as in Newport Beach.
 

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
stiksandstones said:
The kid WANTED to do it, I do not see the problem???

I went motoing in the desert last week with some friends, one of my buddies brought his 10 yr old with us, he rode for 6 hours with us on the trails, is that wrong too? Do not think I ever saw a kid have so much fun.
The kid who swam the bay, his parents were in a boat right next to him...sounds like you are one of those over protective americans.
I don't think motorcycles and bikes are too dangerous for kids. Maybe, it's because that's what I grew up doing, and the whole ocean thing is foreign to me.
 

Wumpus

makes avatars better
Dec 25, 2003
8,161
153
Six Shooter Junction
Pulling statistics from two books on the subject (Great White Shark by Richard Ellis and John McCosker and The Biology of Great White Sharks by A. Peter Klimley and David G. Ainley), there have been 19 reported and recorded attacks on surfers, divers, kayakers and even a sailboarder since 1950 along the North Central California coast. Three of these attacks have been fatal and several of them have been very bloody and nearly fatal.
http://www.surfline.com/travel/surfmaps/us/sanfrancisco_monterey/index.cfm
 

Reactor

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2005
3,976
1
Chandler, AZ, USA
SkaredShtles said:
Right - I know that people get chewed occasionally out along the coast - but do the sharks come in and attack *in the bay*? That's the more pertinent question.

Great White's don't generally hang out in the bay. There are quite a few smaller sharks but they aren't generally all that dangerous or agressive. Most of the shark bites are in the farallon triangle (or red triangle) inverness, farallon islands, bodega bay.