Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming for Denver’s Craig Lenning
When he swam the English Channel, Denver’s Craig Lenning became the 38th person to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming which took place in August, 2010. Many consider him to be disadvantaged since he lives 800 miles away from the nearest ocean, but Lenning proved all his critics wrong.
His Triple Crown Swimming started in August, 2009 when he completed a 21 mile journey from Catalina Island to Point Vicente near Long Beach in California. He stepped on a sea urchin and had to endure numerous punches in his toe when the 21 miles long swim concluded. He made most of this distance in the dark which took him a total of 9 hours to complete the total distance in the water.
Lenning revealed that it was his second marathon in the ocean and when he told those who were observing him on the boat, they go a little paranoid. He also said that the experience altogether was not that bad and he enjoyed the swim in the ocean.
He completed the Manhattan Island Marathon in June which was 28.5 miles long in an anticlockwise direction, encircling the Big Apple through the East, Harlem and Hudson rivers. This swim took him a total of 8 hours, 24 minutes and 28 seconds.
Lenning also told correspondents when they questioned him about his experience in the sea that he was stung twice and that too in the face which proved that there was life in the East River.
Lenning became the fifth swimmer to have completed the Triple Crown over a time span of less than 1 year on the 3rd of August.
One of the most interesting incidents during the Triple Crown that Lenning shared was about a French man who asked him if he was a swimmer. Lenning gave a positive response and when he told the Frenchman that he had swum all the way from Dover, the Frenchman invited him for a cup of tea. He said he felt awesome at that moment.
A gravel pond at the Chatfield State Park is the place where Lenning has trained for most of his life. As for dark swimming, Lenin uses the Green Mountain Reservoir which is situated in high country between Silverthorne and Kremmling.
Lenning said that the most difficult bit in swimming is to swim at night. He said that it is something that all swimmers who wish to swim in the dark should be comfortable with from the very start. He added that the first time you swim in the dark, one feels incredibly weird and scared. Lenin further added that it is difficult to swim at night and before doing so, the swimmer needs to fight all his fears and get used to it.
Lenning also swims in the pool but he prefers to swim in sea water for hours and hours. At some points during the Triple Crown, he swam in waters that a normal person would consider insanely cold. When he was asked about the temperature of the water during his marathon swim, he said that he absolutely enjoyed the environment in the water and he would like to swim for the Triple Crown once again and for as many times as he can.
Lenning is just 31 years old and has a number of friends who are long distance swimmers as well. He attended the University of Colorado and has also been into mountaineering until he fell and broke his leg on James Peak. After this incident he could not run or walk and so he decided to swim and stay out in the water for longer durations. Lenning was then told about the Catalina swim from a friend and he went for it and managed to cross the big way in just a midnight. He told correspondents that once you get out there, you have to follow the light on a boat. He also said that your only companion out there is that boat and the light.
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