IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED . . . : On His Second Try, Frank Reynolds, 55, Swims From Catalina in Record Time

Last August, with his family watching from the cliffs above the Palos Verdes shoreline, 54-year-old Frank Reynolds was pulled from the ocean 200 yards short of completing a 22-mile swim from Santa Catalina Island.

After swimming almost nonstop for 13 hours and 5 minutes, Reynolds had about five more minutes before he would reach the shore at Redondo Beach. But his body--and his coach, Penny Lee Dean--just said no.

Dean, holder of the English Channel and round-trip Catalina crossing records, knew that Reynolds’ almost white face, unresponsiveness and inability to reach for liquids were sure signs that he was in trouble.

At that point, Dean signaled for help.

About 200 yards away, Reynolds’ wife, Ethel, and four of his seven children looked down from the cliff, unsure of the commotion going on near the escort boat.

“We were watching with a telescope,” said his daughter Cathy, now 15. “All we saw was a lot of confusion. They were taking him out of the water and putting him in the boat. Then we saw them put this body bag (a thermal blanket) over him. My mom and all of us just went into tears. It was really scary.”

A Redondo Beach lifeguard boat sped Reynolds to an ambulance waiting on shore. He was taken to nearby South Bay Hospital, where he lay unconscious for four hours, suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia, with a body temperature of 85 degrees.

On Friday, those memories haunted Reynolds as he set out from Diver’s Cove on Catalina at 1:15 a.m. for his second--and final, he said--attempt at a crossing.

After 10 hours and 34 minutes in water ranging from 61 to 69 degrees, Reynolds reached the rocky cliffs of Palos Verdes Saturday morning and became the 60th person to complete the Catalina channel crossing.

His time not only set a crossing record for the 50-and-over age group, it made him 15th-fastest on the all-time Catalina-to-mainland list.

Though he suffered some scrapes and bruises on the rocks at the finish, Reynolds came out in good shape. After he was given warm liquids and hot water bottles and wrapped in thermal blankets, Reynolds was back on his feet in 30 minutes.

“I had too many things to do this week. I couldn’t waste it all in the hospital,” Reynolds said, smiling.

Sitting on the deck of his oceanfront home in Newport Beach, Reynolds pointed to the Newport Pier, 1 1/2 miles away. The three-mile round trip is one of his regular weekly workouts.

But now, according to a pact he signed with his wife and children, three miles is his limit.

“I’m a (swimming) addict,” said Reynolds, a consulting civil engineer. “But last night I made a pact with my family that I’ll never swim anything over three miles again in my life. I’ve accomplished my goal. I did it for my own satisfaction. It was my goal for two years, and now I can go on.”

At this, Ethel Reynolds smiles.

“We’ve been married 29 years,” she said. “And it’s always been an adventure. I say, ‘What next?’ I have no idea, but I’m sure he’ll come up with something. But this had to be the ultimate.”

Or so she and her children hope.

“Last year, he didn’t tell any of us (children) he was going to do it until the morning he went to Catalina,” said Robert Reynolds, 17. “He didn’t want any of us to know, but my room is right across from his office, so I heard him making the arrangements. We do worry some when he swims out there, so we’re kind of glad it’s over with.”

With his marathon-distance swimming career in check, Reynolds is preparing to go back to the pool. Last year, he swam a 20:40 for 1,650 yards--a lifetime best. He never broke 22 minutes in t1751457893Michigan State from 1952-53.

“His whole attitude promotes youthful thinking,” Ethel said. “In the Masters, you age up in five-year intervals. When he turned 55 this year, he was going ‘Yoo-hoo-hoo, I’m the new kid on the block.’ Most hate even thinking about getting older. He can’t wait to hit 70.”

Now, Reynolds says he’s aimming for the International Masters Swimming Championships next September in Brisbane, Australia. Before that, however, he may “sneak in” a few ocean events.

“Well, I know I’m not supposed to,” he said, smiling. “But I think I’ll do that 10-miler in Seal Beach next July. Just for fun.”