Fan Favorite Rowley Conquers Seal Beach . . . Again

Spectators rose to their feet and began cheering as Mark Rowley neared the shore. His 10-year-old son, Vince, went to meet him at water’s edge, a pair of crutches in hand. The applause got louder as Rowley struggled out of the water and took the crutches from his son.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it,” a woman in the crowd said. “Look, that guy only has one leg.”

A fact many already knew as Rowley, 48, completed his 18th consecutive Seal Beach 10-mile Open Water Swim.

Rowley finished the grueling race from the Huntington Beach Pier to the Seal Beach Pier in 4 hours 41 minutes 33 seconds, 1 1/2 hours behind the winner, Alex Kostich of Burbank. Exhausted, Rowley collapsed into a chair near the finish line.

“That was tough,” said Rowley, who was a bit disappointed in his time. “It started off nice, but it got really choppy the last three miles.”

Rowley, from Mesa, Ariz., had his right leg amputated above the knee in 1977, after a battle with bone cancer. A competitive swimmer in high school and college, he started swimming 10Ks in pools around Arizona to stay in shape after losing his leg.

When he came to California for his sister’s wedding in 1982, he decided to try the open water. He’s been hooked ever since. Now he brings his family along every year for a summer vacation.

“I think he’s nuts,” said Rowley’s 12-year-old daughter, Natalie. “He doesn’t get anything except a T-shirt and a medal for doing it. [But] we get to go to Disneyland.”

Asked how he handles the rough water and distance despite missing a leg, Rowley responded: “I never did have much of a kick.”

Rowley finished 19th among 25 swimmers in the 32nd annual race.

After a 45-minute delay caused by high waves that kept the kayaking guides on shore, Kostich, who swims for the Southern California Aquatics, based in Santa Monica, dominated the field, winning in 3:11:49. He won the race in 1998, but was forced out midway through last year’s race because of illness.

Laguna Beach lifeguard Laural Hooper, who became the first woman to win the race last year, finished fifth in 3:38:26. Mission Viejo’s Jennifer McLeod was the first woman to finish, and the second swimmer overall, completing the distance in 3:25:06. Kostich’s teammate Peter Egan was third in 3:30:32.

McLeod, 25, who retired from competitive swimming in October, still trains with the Mission Viejo Nadadores but sticks strictly to long-distance open water swims. It was her first try at the Seal Beach course.

“I didn’t have any idea how I was doing until I rounded the jetty and the paddler told me I had just passed someone and taken over second place,” McLeod said. “It’s a big boost of confidence for me and it will help me decide what I want to do as far as my swimming goes.”