There are all kinds of marathon swims, most notably Diana Nyad’s recent 110-mile running of the jellyfish gauntlet between Cuba and Key West. Since Matthew Webb made the first crossing of the English Channel in 1875, 2,600-plus swimmers have braved the 21-mile swim through chilly waters from Dover to Calais for the sheer satisfaction of meeting the challenge.
Meredith Novack had been an NCAA Division 1 swimmer at Georgia Southern and was a pro triathlete from the age of 25 through 30. She won a few sprint and Olympic distance races, but lost her thirst for person to person competition. Last year, she sought a personal challenge in marathon swimming and picked the Maui Channel between the Hawaiian islands of Maui and Lanai. The round trip distance was just under 20 miles. After nearly a year of training, seeking sponsorship and recruiting a small but very expert crew, she dove in next to the Club Lanai pier at 6:30 AM last Sunday hoping to reach the Mala Wharf at Lahaina on Maui, take a 10 minute regrouping break – without touching anyone - as she stood on the water before setting out again for Lanai in pursuit of her dream.
Novack spoke with Slowtwitch via telephone a few days before and after her adventure.
ANTICIPATION
ST: What is the previous record for the single and double crossing of the Auau Channel between Lanai and Maui?
Meredith: I am not positive but I think a team of six Australian men made a one-way Maui Channel crossing in a little over 3 hours. A few men but no women have attempted the double crossing. Peter Attia of California completed the first double crossing in a time of 11 hours and 45 minutes.
ST: Is it dangerous?
Meredith: The Maui Channel is very dangerous because there have been a lot of known shark attacks, there are high winds in the afternoon and strong currents.
ST: When will you start and why?
Meredith: I will start around 6 AM. I like to keep it all in daylight because I did not want to swim during shark feeding time in the morning – about 4 or 5 to 7 AM in the morning and about the same times in the evening. I get really nervous about sharks.
ST: How does your team effort compare to Diana Nyad’s?
Meredith: There were 35 people on Diana Nyad’s team and six boats. I have 6 people on my crew, one tiny fishing boat and one kayak. The news stories say she spent about half a million dollars. My entire donated budget was $4,200.
ST: Who is on your team?
Meredith: Bill Goding will be the navigator. He was on pararescue duty in the military, and was a Hawaii career life guard. He is also one of most revered Hawaii channel swimmers and he and I swam together once or twice a week this year. Daniel Worden is a University of Hawaii masters swim coach. He will time my feeding and will keep watch on my stroke. Also when things get tough it is very normal to have meltdown at some point. Dan knows what to say to me and will be huge emotional support. Christa Funk serves in the US Coast Guard and will be a kayaker and swimmer. She was my key open water training partner. Bear is a Maui firefighter and is the captain of our tiny fishing boat. Angel King served in the Army and is our photographer. Jennifer Noonkester is a rescue diver and will serve as a kayaker and media liaison.
ST: What will your crew do if they see a shark nearby?
Meredith: If a shark comes in my area while I am swimming we have a Shark Shield on the kayak which sends out a powerful but very localized electronic signal which is very disagreeable to sharks, a spear gun and we also have what’s called a bang stick, which is a firearm used to protect against sharks and other dangerous fish. The plan is that at least one or two members of the crew will jump in the water and swim with me. It is thought that sharks rarely attack groups of people. We also have Ocean Patrol on call.
ST: What was your longest swim in training?
Meredith: My longest training swim was about 14 miles, which took about 7 hours.
ST: What was the nature of your training program?
Meredith: I trained very, very hard and made my training very, very difficult. This will be my first channel swim and I would rather be over prepared and feel confident than look back and wish I’d trained more.
ST: How long did you train for this?
Meredith: I started training around the end of November in 2012.
ST: Do you have any long distance swimmers you admire?
Meredith: One is Trent Grimsey, the English Channel record holder. He has been so kind to me this year and answered all my questions. We also have some things in common: We both get sick when we eat bananas in the ocean. And we are both nervous Nellies. Neither of us likes a lot of fish around and we scare ourselves half the time. Both of us prefer swimming with other people or else we will stay close to shore.
The other long distance swimmer I look up to is Gertrude Ederle. On August 6, 1926 she became the first woman to swim the English Channel and broke the outright record held by a man with her time of 14:39. At the time most people did not believe a woman could do it. When she came back to the USA, 2 million people greeted her with a ticker tape parade. This was before cell phones and before television and it was really exciting. I feel my swim is really exciting too. People from more than 40 countries have been following my blog.
ST: What do you think about Diana Nyad’s recent swim from Cuba to the U.S.?
Meredith: She is just amazing and I am a huge fan. I know if my grandmother was alive she would be talking about Diana Nyad for weeks. I don’t know if we will ever see such a swim like that again in our lifetime. Kids will grow up thinking they can swim 100 miles! That is fantastic for marathon swimming.
ST: Are there movies or TV programs you refuse to watch?
Meredith: Shark Week! I have never seen it and I won’t. LAUGHS. My dad Mike Novack watched it and didn’t sleep for a week.
ST: How do you cope with jellyfish?
Meredith: Not a fan. I will tell you any serious marathon swimmer in Hawaii deals with them daily. They call the small ones sea nettles and I get stung almost every day by them. But box jelly fish, they can kill you. I have been stung by them two times.
ST: What was your equipment?
Meredith: Diana Nyad took extreme measures against jelly fish but I will just be going traditional – a regular women’s one piece swim suit, swim cap, goggles, and sunscreen -- that is all. I had one very important choice and that was to use WaterPro Lycra swimsuits. They don’t rub, chafe or cut. I can swim for days without a problem. I am so glad they still make Lycra swim suits. Many companies have switched to all polyester blends, which feel like sand paper after about 4 hours. I need the Lycra because I am adamant that I cannot bleed in the water.
ST: What does this swim mean to you?
Meredith: I really feel that this dream has been put in my heart by God. Originally I wanted to find a long swim that would challenge me, something I didn’t know I could do. A double crossing of the Maui Channel, which is known as the Auau Channel spoke to me.
ST: What led you to marathon swimming?
Meredith: I was a competitive swimmer for a very long time and I was a pro triathlete for five years. I reached a point where I didn’t think I wanted to compete against other people, but I wanted something that would really stretch my limits.
ST: How did you make a living while training?
Meredith: I worked at Honolulu HomeLoans and they have been great giving me flexible hours and time to train.
ST: What are some things that you’d never imagine unless you were a marathon swimmer?
Meredith: It is so beautiful and inspiring out there. The first thing -- you literally travel through so many different shades of blue. When you are out in the middle of the ocean and you swim through temperature changes or swim under a cloud cover, the water changes in an infinite variety of hues, intensity and shades.
The other thing unique to marathon swimming is that after a very long time in the water, you reach a place where you melt down and still you keep going. Your body just fights. You reach a mode where you want to keep going, keep going, keep going and, until get there, your body goes into this huge fight mode where you become so determined. The key message of the swim is: If you are going through adversity, just keep moving forward.
ST: It seems that you need this never quit mentality -- but therefore you need a crew to keep that under control?
Meredith: You need that strong will to keep going but it is also imperative that you have a safety crew there to stop you if it becomes too much. We are all aware of the English Channel swimmer who died recently [Susan Taylor, 34, died on July 14 just one mile from completing the Channel crossing] and know this is a serious business. It is the crew’s responsibility to overrule a swimmer who is in trouble and refuses to quit because they are in that fight mode.
ST: Are you attracted by the danger?
It is amazing how so many people around the world are so enthusiastic and supportive of this swim. I can feel their energy and can feel the support and can feel the prayers. A lot of people ask me is this dangerous swim a death wish? No, I have a life wish. Nothing makes me feel so alive and so much like I meet my purpose on earth than marathon swimming. I want to show people that if you go through tough times, don’t stop. Keep going. Things will get better.
LOOKING BACK ON THE BIG DAY
ST: Perhaps we could start by recounting how your safety plan worked when you encountered a rather large shark?
Meredith: With about four hours to go on the way back to Lanai, I was looking at Jennifer Noonkester in the kayak and saw she signaled with her hand over her head to look like a shark fin. But when she saw me looking at her, she gave me a huge thumbs up and everybody cheered and waved. As I later found out, that was the first time they saw a shark in the distance, and it was far enough away they thought it was just checking us out and leaving. So all seemed fine and we kept going. I did feel something was off, but I didn’t know what.
ST: Did the shark come back for a closer look?
Meredith: A bit later they were going to make another change in the kayak. Bill Goding had been kayaking and Christa Funk was going to take over. When Christa got into the kayak and Bill got out, he nearly jumped onto a 15 foot long tiger shark about three feet away. He freaked and tried to climb back into the kayak with Christa – but it is a one person kayak.
ST: What did everyone do? Did anyone tell you what was happening?
Meredith: When Christa got into the kayak, Bill was trying to climb back on. Bill tried to scream but he didn’t want me to know what was going on -- yet. So Bill decided to sprint from the kayak to the boat which was about 20 yards away. When he got to the boat he jumped and everyone pulled him in.
ST: You really did not know about the shark at that time?
Meredith: I was oblivious. I could not hear what was going on as they all jumped into action. The bang stick and the spear gun were out. I thought the spear gun was a rifle when I saw the photos. They went into our emergency safety plan and if you look at the photos everybody was on the edge of the boat and ready to jump in. Meanwhile Dan had jumped in to swim with me and we stopped and Dan said very calmly , “You’re doing great! Let’s go.” I felt OK, because he was so calm. Meanwhile, the shark came back around and swam up about 10 feet behind the boat.
ST: Scary moment! What happened next?
Meredith: I've only seen video clips but I know they didn’t use the bang stick. The shark went behind the boat and then came right up and got within a foot or two of the kayak and a few feet of me. At that point the Shark Shield zapped it and Christa calmly kayaked as closely as possible next to me.
ST: How does it work?
Meredith: There is a device that attaches to the back of the kayak which looks like a rope. It’s three feet long and dangles in the water and emits this strong electronic signal that makes shark feel like its nose gets zapped. Sharks hate the feeling and are supposed to immediately turn away and leave. Which is exactly what happened. But my crew was shocked it got so close.
ST: How close?
Meredith: Probably only about 5-10 yards from the boat.
ST: Did you have any premonition given your anxiety about sharks?
Meredith: For the majority of the swim I had low anxiety. But about 20 minutes before all this commotion happened, I got very nervous. The water changed to a really dark navy blue and I got really upset, stopped, and told my crew, ‘I want someone in the water with me -- now!’ Funny thing, it felt like they took their sweet time to get in. It probably only took 60 seconds – but I just wanted someone with me right away! Now my reaction seems really funny.
ST: How do you think your crew perform under pressure?
Meredith: Honestly they were so brave, they were amazing. They did everything perfectly. Had they told me about the shark, I'm sure I would have ended the swim. It's unreal what happened. Thank God the Shark Shield worked.
ST: How did your dad react when you told him about the shark encounter?
Meredith: I respect that he is so protective about me, but he was strangely calm when he heard the story. Once he knew this really happened, and that it was over, he can go back to be his normal self – a really good dad who worries about me.
ST: Any jelly fish?
Meredith: Yes. On the way back from Maui when I had less than an hour to go, my hand was stung hard on two of my fingers either by a box jellyfish, or a Portuguese man o’war. I stopped and thought, ‘This really hurts!’ CHUCKLES. But I didn’t cry. After I was stung, I stopped and Dan swam next to me because he knew something was wrong. I could see land and knew we had less than an hour to go. So I told him I was OK and said, ‘Let's keep going.’
ST: Were you tempted to quit?
Meredith: No. I felt so determined. In the first half, I pushed it pretty hard and was a little disappointed with my time to get to Maui. I swam well but we didn’t realize how strong the current was against us. When I got to Lahaina, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to swim so hard on way back! It’s going to be close.’ From that point, I swam so much harder than I could have imagined. Midway back, it seemed to take forever.
ST: Any more tough moments on the way back?
Meredith: I took in a lot of salt water because it was so choppy. The waves were big and I felt like I was gonna get sick with about 3 hours to go. I tried so hard to eat but at that time I just did not want to.
ST: Were you conscious of matching or breaking the Maui double channel record?
Meredith: I kept asking the crew how much further I had to go? I am very numbers-driven. I count strokes and I can figure it out how many strokes I have to go. My crew kept saying, ‘We don’t know.’ It was very frustrating to me. As expected, I had a few meltdown moments on the way back. It wasn't too bad -- one major meltdown I stopped and started crying. Then I kept swimming.
ST: Did Dan talk you down from some low spots during the swim?
Meredith: One time when I stopped, Dan jumped in and we had a little talk. I wanted my crew them to tell me how far I had to go. They simply said ‘Keep going’ and not too much else. That wasn’t working for me. I told Dan it was very important to me to figure out how much further I had to go. After I communicated how important it was he told me they could not figure out exactly. I got no information until we could see the land. As we neared Lanai, there were 3 foot waves and it was choppy. The boat and kayak got tossed around. So I can see now it was hard to gauge how much forward progress we were making.
ST: Did you have a vague idea you were within reach?
Meredith: I was on a feed break and Bill was kayaking. I ask Bill ‘How am I doing? Will I break the record? I've been pushing myself so much because I want to beat the time and get there before 11:45.’ Bill said to me: ‘I don’t know about the record. I just want you to get there.’ I knew he just wanted me to stay well. At the same time, the record meant everything to me. LAUGHS. I also knew I could make the 20 miles. I was not concerned about that. At that point, I wasn't really happy and gave him back my bottle of water and said, ‘Let’s keep going!’ I wanted to shorten the breaks.
ST: How did the landing go?
Meredith: It gets really murky about 1000 meters from shore. When the shark went away we were all on such high alert. I knew one mile coming into each island is just a shark hangout point. So Dan and Bill jumped in to swim with me the last mile. Bill must have been a little nervous at that point because he had seen the shark, so he swam right next to the boat with the Shark Shield. I wondered, ‘Why is Bill swimming right next to the Shark Shield? I should be swimming there!’ It seemed funny at the time.
ST: Could you keep on course to land at the dock at Club Lanai?
Meredith: The current near to Lanai started to push me to the right and we decided to keep on line for the island and not worry about where we were landing. So we ended up landing a half mile away from Club Lanai. There really wasn’t much we could do about it. When we came in, 3 and 4 foot waves were breaking right on the coral up to the shoreline.
ST: How did you navigate through the coral reef?
Meredith: We tried to float on top of the water and kick lightly. So we basically stopped and made like a starfish and just floated above the coral, which was maybe 4 inches beneath us. I could not take a full stroke because I had to be as high as I could on top of the water and kick lightly. When a big wave would come I would just hold on and try to stay on top of the water. If you were thrown around, you could easily get cut up, as the waves were just smashing on the coral all the way to the beach. Luckily I had a little practice with coral in training and I made it just fine.
ST: What did you feel when you stood on the beach and realized you finished in 11 hours and 1 minute and broke the record by 44 minutes?
Meredith: I could not believe it was over. A big part of me didn't want it to be over because it was my dream day. I could not have dreamed it would work out any better. For the last few hours, I was pushing hard and after putting out so much energy the whole day, I didn't know how to feel. The second thing -- I really did not want to swim back to the boat, which was 400 yards out because of the coral. So Bill and Dan swam with me coming back out.
ST: How was the rest of the crew doing?
Meredith: Christa Funk had done so well all day but she tumbled over in the kayak on the coral. She was really close to shore when it happened. In the process she also was zapped by the Shark Shield.
ST: When you had time for things to sink in, did you comprehend the full impact of what you'd done?
Meredith: When I had time to reflect, I was so happy to inspire people around the world. My story was in Sports Illustrated, the Huffington Post, NBCNews.com, UPI, Yahoo, and on every Hawaii television news for three days and every newspaper. It was in news accounts in the Phillippines, Trinidad, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Hong Kong, and Europe. We will also be featured in a segment on the Surf Channel. I'm also writing a book on my journey of faith and determination.
But that night, I went out for steak and champagne.
