For a long time, Alcatraz was something of a myth to me: the prison that was hardest to escape from. It had never crossed my mind that one day I would swim that route, from the island to the city, through the waters of San Francisco Bay. But that’s exactly what I did on September 19th.
I was in San Francisco from September 7th to 19th. It was my first time in California and my first visit to the city, and I have to admit that the main reason for the trip was a conference. The original plan was to tack a few days of sightseeing onto the work trip, and that’s exactly what ended up happening: I spent the second part of my holiday exploring some of the United States’ national parks and camping in the wilderness. It was an incredible experience, but that’s a story for another time.
Quando estava a planear a viagem com uma amiga, descobrimos que havia em São Francisco um clube de águas abertas, o Dolphin Club, que nada numa das poucas praias da cidade onde, apesar de tudo, existem condições para isso. Já contei essa história noutro texto aqui no blog. O plano, na altura, ficava por aí: umas banhocas na “banheira” de São Francisco.
A late registration
It was only once I got there and started looking into things a little more closely that I realised there was going to be an Alcatraz swim: the Pedro Ordenes Memorial Alcatraz Swim. Pedro was an open-water swimming coach originally from Chile, well known in the area for his friendly nature and for introducing so many people to open-water swimming. He had died tragically young from cancer. So I thought to myself: “Well, why not? Since I’m here, how many chances like this am I going to get? When will I ever have another opportunity to do something like this?”
But I hesitated. And I hesitated for quite a few days. I wasn’t sure whether I should spend that much money, because as a memorial swim, the entry fee was considerably higher than usual, even for a swim with that kind of logistical complexity. On top of that, the event was scheduled for my last day in San Francisco, which meant I’d have to make my way there in the morning, leave my bags at the hotel, then collect everything and head straight to the airport.
As so often happens with these things, I only found the courage to go for it after the registration deadline had passed. I tried to sign up, but the website wouldn’t let me. Then came the usual scramble: emails to the organisers, messages to their Instagram pages, until I finally managed to get hold of Jeff. His response was something along the lines of: “I’ll open it up just for you. Hurry up and get yourself registered.” So that’s exactly what I did.
Mensagem do Jeff
If there’s one thing I’ll take away from this trip to the United States, it’s how friendly everyone was wherever I went. And it wasn’t just friendliness; there was also a genuine willingness to help, to make things easier, to find ways to make things work. That really surprised me. There’s a real knack for customer service and finding solutions. It’s not that rules are simply ignored; it’s that they’re treated as guidelines, there to make people’s lives easier, not the other way around.
Sharks, Fog, and a 4:30 a.m. Alarm Clock
I barely slept the night before, which is something that tends to happen to me on these occasions. Maybe it was nerves, maybe a combination of other things, but I found myself thinking about all the worst-case scenarios. Everyone I talked to about it seemed to have the same reaction: “You’re crazy!” or “Just be careful!” Someone even told me that the previous year a guy had been left quadriplegic (sadly, that was true), while others warned me I might get lost in the fog. Getting up at 4:30 a.m. was no easy task.
I took a Waymo, one of those driverless cars you see around San Francisco — essentially an Uber with nobody behind the wheel. They’re incredibly convenient and work really well. I needed to be at Aquatic Park by 6:00 a.m. With me was Raphael, my eldest son, whom I’d managed to persuade to join me in San Francisco once the work-related part of the trip was over. He ended up getting dragged into the whole adventure as my official photographer for the swim!
The bleachers at Aquatic Park, where we got changed and checked in for the swim.
The schedule was tight. Check-in was at 6:00 a.m. on the bleachers at Aquatic Park, followed by a briefing at 7:00. Then we made our way along Jefferson Street to the ferry, and by 7:30 we were boarding. The boat was, quite literally, a red Cacilhas-style ferry, with room for all 150 swimmers plus the event crew. Except this one wasn’t heading to Cacilhas. It was the ferry to Sausalito, so in Portugal we’d have to call it a “Sausaliteiro”!
The atmosphere on the ferry was great, but there was also a certain tension in the air. Have you ever had one of those moments when you think, “What on earth am I doing here?” Some people had done this eight times already, while others were taking on the challenge for the very first time, and a few were visibly nervous. Although I was a first-timer myself, I tried to help out and reassure others as best I could.
The ferry ride to Alcatraz Island
The ferry took us to within a few dozen metres of Alcatraz, to a spot where the water was deep enough for us to jump safely from the boat. I imagine there are some administrative issues involved with the island itself, and in practice, the swimming distance is the same either way. The jump turned out to be more challenging than I’d expected, because the impact tends to knock your goggles off. The organisers had warned us about this, and sure enough, that’s exactly what happened to me! 🙂
Alcatraz Island and its prison, from which no prisoner has ever been confirmed to have escaped.
Swimming Against the Pacific
The start was just after 8:15 a.m. The sky was overcast. I wouldn’t quite call it foggy, but visibility wasn’t great either. And, curiously, there are very few landmarks to guide you between Alcatraz and San Francisco: the Ghirardelli Building, the former chocolate factory, and a few residential buildings further back. I had to navigate carefully to make sure I stayed on course.
Photo taken by my son Raphael with his black-and-white film camera, capturing my alleged jump into the water.
Even so, I was swept along by the current far more than I’d expected. The force of the Pacific flowing into the bay is brutal. After the first few strokes of what was supposed to be a mile-and-a-half swim, I actually considered giving up. I ended up swimming in a sort of semicircle, and at one point I realised I was clearly drifting off course. In the end, I swam almost parallel to the shoreline to make it into Aquatic Park Bay and complete the crossing.
I ended up finishing 26th overall out of 116 participants. Given the circumstances, that’s not bad at all.
A Rookie, but Not Alone
We wrapped things up with hot drinks, the awards ceremony, and a donut that one of the organisers kindly offered me.
Devouring the donut next to the American flag!
For days, I kept asking myself whether I should spend that money, whether it was worth complicating the logistics of my last day, or whether I’d be better off sticking to a few leisurely dips. In the end, I decided to go for it, but only after the deadline had passed, and only because someone on the other side was willing to make an exception. How many times will I get a chance like this? Probably not many. I’m glad I didn’t let this one slip away. And, by the way, together we raised more than $10,000 for the Pedro Ordenes Cancer Fund. Here’s to all the “Pedros” out there, the people we meet along the way who inspire us to keep swimming, even against the current!
André Marquet