By MICHAEL J. CRUMB | Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa - Five years after Charlie Wittmack trudged to the 29,035 foot summit of Mt. Everest, he'll soon attempt a 21-mile-swim across the English Channel.
If he's successful, the 31-year-old trial lawyer from Des Moines will be the first American to achieve both feats. Only three others have done it, an accomplishment known as the peak and the pond.
"It's a challenge that's been floating around in adventure circles for a while now,"
Wittmack said in a telephone interview from England while waiting for seas to calm enough for his attempt.
If the weather cooperates, Wittmack plans to dive into the waters of the English Channel about 10 a.m. Friday at Shakespeare Beach in Dover. He hopes to climb out of the channel on the French coast about 12 hours later.
For Wittmack, it's his latest venture into the world of extreme sports.
On May 22, 2003, he reached the summit of Mt. Everest. He trained seven years for the climb and once there, he found himself in what he said were the worst conditions ever recorded on the mountain.
"I spent three days without food or water and a day without oxygen above 20,000 feet," Wittmack said.
The conditions in the English Channel should be considerably better, but not without risk.
"We expect the water to be up to 67 degrees this week -- at that level hypothermia is still a major concern," said Wittmack.
Wittmack, who swam for Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, began training for the channel swim about three years ago. For the past six months, he's been training four hours a day, most of it swimming. He has been swimming every other weekend in either Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, and he's competed in a 12{-mile race in Key West, Fla.
He said his experience on Everest inspired him to attempt the channel crossing. "I realized after that that my body was predisposed for climbing at higher elevations," he said. "After Everest I wanted to try something that would be as great a challenge and I decided on the English Channel."
Michael Reed, president of the Channel Swimming Association, confirmed Wittmack would be the first American to accomplish both feats. The other swimmers were from Britain, Greece and Mexico.
Wittmack said plenty of people in adventure circles consider the dual challenge, but few have attempted both.
"The reason it's difficult is because of the body's physiology," he said.
Wittmack said climbers, such as himself, tend to be shorter with less body fat and a high weight-to-strength ratio. By comparison, long distance swimmers tend to have higher body fat, which makes them more buoyant, and taller with longer limbs to help propel themselves through the water faster.
Randy Clark, the manager of the exercise science laboratory at the University of Wisconsin Hospital Sports Medicine Center in Madison, Wis., said that while mountain climbers and distance swimmers tend to have different physical characteristics, there is an underlying similarity.
"There is some cross over in physiological and psychological makeup," he said. "Anybody that is able to climb Mt. Everest or do anything that is highly physically demanding over a long period of time, it takes incredible cardiovascular fitness, and I would say the same about swimming the English Channel.
"You can't underestimate the need for incredible cardiovascular fitness to pull off either of those events, let alone both," Clark said."
Wittmack arrived in England nearly two weeks ago and in his first practice swim in the colder water his legs "seized up."
"My thighs seized up after an hour and I wasn't able to use my legs," Wittmack said.
He's been swimming every day since then to get his body acclimated to the water, resulting in a natural warming of his core body temperature, Wittmack said.
"As the body adapts to cold water, if it anticipates it is going in cold water it artificially increases the core body temperature, so for the past week or so I've been running a low grade fever of about 100 degrees," he said.
Organizations that govern the swim require that athletes only wear swimsuits, not wetsuits that could shield them from the cold or the kind of swimwear that Olympic athletes used that helped them break so many world records in Beijing.
Once he begins the swim, Wittmack said his team will closely monitor the weather conditions and the tide. There have been few successful crossings of the channel this August because of high winds.
Strong tides also can complicate crossing attempts, sometimes pushing swimmers 15 miles or more off course.
"It's not uncommon to get stuck in a current and swim for an additional six hours," Wittmack said.
His wife, Catherine, and their 6-month-old son James have joined him on the trip, along with the couple's parents.
Wittmack said his father-in-law is a physician and his own dad is "kind of a sailor." Both will be in the boat that accompanies him on the swim.
"It's going to be a great challenge, and that is what really appeals to me," he said. "These are things where you have to be at your absolute peak of physical conditioning, mentally as strong as you've ever been and have some luck."
If he's successful, the 31-year-old trial lawyer from Des Moines will be the first American to achieve both feats. Only three others have done it, an accomplishment known as the peak and the pond.
"It's a challenge that's been floating around in adventure circles for a while now,"
Wittmack said in a telephone interview from England while waiting for seas to calm enough for his attempt.
If the weather cooperates, Wittmack plans to dive into the waters of the English Channel about 10 a.m. Friday at Shakespeare Beach in Dover. He hopes to climb out of the channel on the French coast about 12 hours later.
For Wittmack, it's his latest venture into the world of extreme sports.
On May 22, 2003, he reached the summit of Mt. Everest. He trained seven years for the climb and once there, he found himself in what he said were the worst conditions ever recorded on the mountain.
"I spent three days without food or water and a day without oxygen above 20,000 feet," Wittmack said.
The conditions in the English Channel should be considerably better, but not without risk.
"We expect the water to be up to 67 degrees this week -- at that level hypothermia is still a major concern," said Wittmack.
Wittmack, who swam for Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, began training for the channel swim about three years ago. For the past six months, he's been training four hours a day, most of it swimming. He has been swimming every other weekend in either Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, and he's competed in a 12{-mile race in Key West, Fla.
He said his experience on Everest inspired him to attempt the channel crossing. "I realized after that that my body was predisposed for climbing at higher elevations," he said. "After Everest I wanted to try something that would be as great a challenge and I decided on the English Channel."
Michael Reed, president of the Channel Swimming Association, confirmed Wittmack would be the first American to accomplish both feats. The other swimmers were from Britain, Greece and Mexico.
Wittmack said plenty of people in adventure circles consider the dual challenge, but few have attempted both.
"The reason it's difficult is because of the body's physiology," he said.
Wittmack said climbers, such as himself, tend to be shorter with less body fat and a high weight-to-strength ratio. By comparison, long distance swimmers tend to have higher body fat, which makes them more buoyant, and taller with longer limbs to help propel themselves through the water faster.
Randy Clark, the manager of the exercise science laboratory at the University of Wisconsin Hospital Sports Medicine Center in Madison, Wis., said that while mountain climbers and distance swimmers tend to have different physical characteristics, there is an underlying similarity.
"There is some cross over in physiological and psychological makeup," he said. "Anybody that is able to climb Mt. Everest or do anything that is highly physically demanding over a long period of time, it takes incredible cardiovascular fitness, and I would say the same about swimming the English Channel.
"You can't underestimate the need for incredible cardiovascular fitness to pull off either of those events, let alone both," Clark said."
Wittmack arrived in England nearly two weeks ago and in his first practice swim in the colder water his legs "seized up."
"My thighs seized up after an hour and I wasn't able to use my legs," Wittmack said.
He's been swimming every day since then to get his body acclimated to the water, resulting in a natural warming of his core body temperature, Wittmack said.
"As the body adapts to cold water, if it anticipates it is going in cold water it artificially increases the core body temperature, so for the past week or so I've been running a low grade fever of about 100 degrees," he said.
Organizations that govern the swim require that athletes only wear swimsuits, not wetsuits that could shield them from the cold or the kind of swimwear that Olympic athletes used that helped them break so many world records in Beijing.
Once he begins the swim, Wittmack said his team will closely monitor the weather conditions and the tide. There have been few successful crossings of the channel this August because of high winds.
Strong tides also can complicate crossing attempts, sometimes pushing swimmers 15 miles or more off course.
"It's not uncommon to get stuck in a current and swim for an additional six hours," Wittmack said.
His wife, Catherine, and their 6-month-old son James have joined him on the trip, along with the couple's parents.
Wittmack said his father-in-law is a physician and his own dad is "kind of a sailor." Both will be in the boat that accompanies him on the swim.
"It's going to be a great challenge, and that is what really appeals to me," he said. "These are things where you have to be at your absolute peak of physical conditioning, mentally as strong as you've ever been and have some luck."
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