When Patti Bauernfeind entered Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz at midnight, she had hoped that sometime this morning she would enter the record books as just the second person to swim across Monterey Bay. No one has done it since 1983, when Cindy Cleveland completed the grueling 23-mile swim across the frigid waters.
Not for lack of trying, mind you. Five people have attempted the swim, but none of them succeeded. But Patti Bauernfeind is an experienced marathon swimmer. By 4:30am she was halfway across the Bay. Then she had to give up.
It wasn’t exhaustion that frustrated her effort. It was jellyfish. During the swim, she suffered from several stings, including one across her face. The toxins that were released made her vulnerable to hypothermia for the first time in her career. She tried to continue—she was doing the swim to raise $50,000 to build a school in Afghanistan—but finally the hypothermia was too much to bear, and she was forced out of the water.
Jellyfish have long been a problem for people attempting to complete the swim. Last year, Santa Cruz native Bruckner Chase was also forced to stop mid-swim because of their stings. He hasn’t given up, though. Chase will be setting off at 4am Tuesday for a second attempt to conquer the Bay and raise awareness of ocean conservation. We wish him the best of luck.
Read More at the <a href=" http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_15855931?source=most_viewed” title=”Santa Cruz Sentinel”>Santa Cruz Sentinel.
