Seal Beach : 700 to Compete in Annual Rough Water Swim Event

About 700 swimmers will compete against each other and the Pacific Ocean Sunday in the 17th annual Seal Beach Rough Water Swim, highlighted by a 10-mile race from the Huntington Beach Pier to the Seal Beach Pier.

The 10-mile event will begin at 6 a.m. and other races, including age group events and a three-mile swim from the Seal Beach Pier to an offshore “oil island” and back, will be held while competitors in the main event churn northward. Organizer Carla Watson said that the race is considered one of the top endurance swimming events in the country and winners receive All-American status.

Last year’s champ, Tom Fristoe, who finished at 3 hours, 28 minutes, will be competing with about 55 swimmers in the main event, including the 1984 women’s winner, Nancy North, 17. Competitors’ ages range from 10 to 78 and entries have been received from England and Egypt, as well as Hawaii and New Jersey.

Finishing times were slow in 1984, said Watson. “The problem last year was that we had a third entry--the current. They really started having problems at about Jack-in-the-Box in Sunset Beach,” she said.