AT HOME IN THE WATER : Loss of Leg Due to Cancer Hasn’t Kept Mark Rowley From Battling the Currents

Mark Rowley will walk to the edge of Huntington Beach on Sunday morning, set down his crutches and artificial leg and disappear into the rolling surf of the Pacific Ocean.

Ten miles of waves, sidecurrents, seaweed and possible strong winds will lie ahead.

Nearly four hours later, Rowley, as he has done for the past seven years, will emerge from the water at Seal Beach. His muscles will be sore, his skin chapped and he will be shivering from the cool water.

And he’ll probably be wearing a grin.

Rowley, an insurance agent from Mesa, Ariz., will join about 60 other swimmers Sunday in a 10-mile segment of the 21st Seal Beach Rough Water Swim. Besides the 10-mile race, a one- and three-mile swim will begin at 8 a.m. at Seal Beach as well as age-group competition for boys and girls at 200, 400, 800 and 1,200 yards.

But for Rowley, 37, the race won’t be against other competitors. It will be against time--and the elements.

“The hardest thing is the weather,” said Rowley, who reached a personal best of 3 hours 43 minutes last year. “Three years ago the weather was bad. The current was kicking and the wind was blowing. It took me seven hours to finish.”

Overcoming elements is something Rowley has become used to.

Once he’s in the water, he will be free of the restrictions that limit him.

“When I’m on land, I’m somewhat clumsy,” he said. “Except for the fact that I can’t kick, I have total freedom in the water.”

Rowley, who lost his right leg in 1977 because of cancer, said he doesn’t consider his amputation a handicap. He was a competitive distance swimmer in high school and has made only a few adjustments in his technique. During the race, his friend, Ray Bosch of Carlsbad, will paddle alongside him on a surfboard to help steer him through the course.

“Sometimes my balance in the water is thrown off because I’m kicking only with my left leg,” Rowley said. “When I swam in high school, I didn’t have much of a kick anyway. I’ve just learned to compensate. I’ve always been into water sports, so this was a natural transition.”

Rowley has had to make a number of transitions since 1974, when doctors discovered bone cancer just below his right knee. He underwent 11 operations in the next four years as doctors attempted to save his leg.

He spent most of his college days at the University of Arizona with his leg in a cast and recovering from surgeries. He had given up swimming after graduating from Westwood High School in Mesa, where he helped the school win four consecutive state championships.

Swimming was the furthest thing from Rowley’s mind when doctors told him they would have to amputate to stop the cancer from spreading.

“The only good thing about this was that I had time to prepare for it,” he said. “When (doctors) tell you, ‘Take the amputation or die,’ you take the amputation. I tried to keep a positive outlook.”

It wasn’t until two years after the operation that Rowley ventured back to the water. He began swimming with a friend at a local YMCA and was soon competing in city meets.

“I was competitive in the local meets,” he said. “Then I tried a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) swim. I heard about the Seal Beach race in 1982, so I gave that a try.”

Rowley said he has shown steady improvement with each Seal Beach race. It’s the longest distance event he competes at each year. Much of his training centers on it.

Every weekday, Rowley rises at 5:30 a.m. to work out with the Tempe Swim Devils team. He swims between 3,200 and 3,800 yards before going to work.

“It’s a way to keep in shape,” Rowley said. “I had no other way to exercise. I love to play baseball, but I can’t run the bases very easily.”

But Rowley has learned he can participate in many other sports. He snow skis, water skis and scuba dives.

Both his snow and water ski bindings are modified to fit his artificial leg. He water skis for fun and has snow-skied competitively for the past two years with the Far West Disabled Ski Team.

“There’s every type of handicap you can imagine (on the team),” he said. “Most are amputees, but there also are blind skiers and paraplegics.”

He’s also a volunteer with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office divers posse, which works on rescues and underwater investigations.

“I’ve really gotten into scuba diving,” he said. “It’s fun to go down there and explore.”

Rowley expects an adventure of a different kind on Sunday. He said he will keep a close eye on his time as he weaves through the tricky currents.

“If I can break my personal record by one second,” he said. “I’ll be ecstatic.”