Barber Proves Seaworthy in Easy Victory

Jim Barber is not that familiar with ocean swimming. After all, his hometown, Indianapolis, isn’t exactly on the beach.

But Barber had little trouble winning the 10-mile event Saturday at the Seal Beach Open Water Swim Championships.

Barber and 22 other swimmers started at the Huntington Beach Pier, where he was the first to enter the 64-degree water. He took an immediate lead and continued to build on it.

By the time he rounded the Seal Beach Pier a little more than three hours later, the nearest competitor was almost 10 minutes behind him.

With paddler Cliff Kjoss next to him, Barber swam to shore where he ran the last 100 yards of the race up the beach, finishing in 3 hours 9 minutes 4 seconds.

“It was great,” Barber said. “I felt good the entire distance. The ocean was perfect.”

A first-time participant in the 10-mile Seal Beach race, Barber said he trains exclusively in a pool, so he had some apprehension about how well he would do.

“There aren’t any good lakes to train in,” Barber said, “so I have to do all my work in a pool. But I guess it didn’t really matter.”

Barber said he ate Hostess Cupcakes before the race and was eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups during it.

“Yeah, I suppose I’m not exactly following a strict diet,” he said. “But hey, it works for me.”

Veteran Jim McConica of Ventura finished second in 3:19:59.

“I’m happy with that time,” said McConica, 45. “I wish the water was a bit colder, then there would have been more people dropping out. But hey, for a grandfather, I think I had a good swim.”

Laurel Hooper of Laguna Beach took third overall and first in the women’s event, finishing in 3:31.25.

Hooper, 22, who is a lifeguard for the city of Laguna Beach, was ecstatic with her time.

“This was so much better than the last time I swam this race,” Hooper said. “I was really worried about the ocean conditions because last time, it was so rough. But this time, it was perfect.”

Huntington Beach’s Rod Hansen, 28, finished fourth in 3:34:25.

Morgan Filler, 16, the youngest entrant, finished fifth in 3:35:45. T.R. Johnson of Huntington Beach, the oldest swimmer in the 10-mile event at 74, finished in 5:29:25.

In the three-mile event, Alex Kostich of Santa Monica won with a time of 53:03. Pam Lazzarotto of Los Angeles, finished first in the women’s three-mile event in 58:22.

Gary Weisenthal, 84, flew in from Louisville to swim the three-mile race.

Weisenthal, who finished in 1:55:54, said he hopes to swim the 10-mile race next year.

“I have one more 10-mile in me,” he said. “I’ve been swimming this event for about 14 years. I never miss them.”

Peter Egan of Los Angeles won the one-mile race in 19:28.