My 60km swim, Sunday, 6 June, 2004, from Puerto Gaboto to Rosario down the Parana River began at 11:20am with head winds and a little bit of a chop. The wind chop eased throughout the day. Our biggest concern was the large barges that travel up and down the river. At one stage, I had to swerve a long way to miss a massive barge, taking 15 minutes to get back on course. The water temperature throughout the day was about 17 degrees
Celsius, but dropped when the sun went down.
The swim took 8 hours 22 minutes, completing at 7:42pm. Numbered buoys line the Parana River. My swim began with number 482 and completed with number 423, the finish line being about 400 metres past the Victoria Bridge. The last hour and a half was in the dark, which posed a problem for Matt Logan, my kayaker; however, the police boat's massive spot light did make it easier for Matt.
Getting to my feet in the shallow edge of the river, walking up the sand of the side of the river and above the tidal marker made me a happy man. I was greeted by Bill, Narelle, Claudio and many of Claudio's friends and relatives. After warming up next to a fire at Claudio's friend's restaurant, we all sat down for a magnificent meal of steak.
I would like to thank my team: Bill Tricker, Narelle Simpson and Matt Logan for their time and effort making the trip to Argentina with me, blowing whistles, and for all of their superb help all day.
Thanks also to Claudio Plit, who organised the event and trained with me prior to it. Claudio Plit
is a great marathon swimmer from Argentina who has
been a famous marathon swimmer for 30 years. He organised the observer, the police escort, the doctor, plotting the course, and obtaining the boats and kayaks.
Hopefully,
the Rainbow Club children had a great day, as I certainly
did!
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