Posted on: Friday, August 29, 2003

Foursome completes channel crossing

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i masters swimmers Laurie Foster and Linda Kaiser picked a great day last month to make Hawai'i channel swimming history.

On July 20, Foster, 47, and Kaiser, 53, became the first women to swim the 20-mile channel between Kaua'i and Ni'ihau, a stretch of ocean that usually brews bad weather and swimming conditions.

"It can be a very nasty channel as far as current and winds go," Kaiser said. "We were lucky in that it was a pretty decent day."

Foster and Kaiser, along with Tom Robinson, 32, and Mike Spalding, 55, completed the long-distance swim with Robinson finishing in 9 hours and 45 minutes, while Foster, Kaiser and Spalding clocked in at 10:45.

"It's the first time that it's been done by women," said Kaiser, adding that the foursome will compete in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim on Monday. "We're not sure if it's the first crossing period. Apparently, there's some guy on Kaua'i that said he swam for 12 hours, but we're not sure if he actually touched land at the end or not."

According to the sport's governing body — the Channel Swimming Association — swimmers must touch land when they start and finish for a swim to be certified. Kaiser said her group is the first to certify the Kaua'i to Ni'ihau swim.

During the swim, the four were accompanied by an escort boat and one kayaker, Kaiser said. Certification rules prohibit swimmers from touching the boat during the swim, so they must drink and eat while treading water or floating on their backs, Kaiser said. The swimmers consumed energy drinks, nutrition bars and peaches.

"Peaches are really good," Kaiser said. "They're slimy enough to just go down your throat because our tongue gets real swollen being in salt water for so long."

Kaiser said the group practiced several weeks for the swim, including training swims from Portlock to Waikiki and 12-mile weekend swims that lasted six hours.

Kaiser, Spalding and Robinson swim at the O'ahu Club and are coached by John Flanagan, who also coaches Noa Sakamoto, a Punahou senior who is a favorite in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim.

Kaiser said there are two other Hawaiian channels that are longer — the 30-mile leg between Maui and the Big Island, and the 26-mile distance between Moloka'i and O'ahu. No one has ever swam the Maui-to-Big Island channel, Kaiser said.