EDITOR NOTE: Due to storms, the start time for Swim Cortez has been moved to 12am PST on Monday, November 4th.
Paul Lundgren will start a journey across the Sea of Cortez, from near Guaymas, Mexico, on the mainland. He will swim 80+ miles, taking 48 hours or more, to cross the Sea, famously called “the world’s aquarium” by Jacques Cousteau. Lundgren will swim with migrating great white sharks, seasonal fluctuations of toxic jelly fish blooms, carnivorous squid and unpredictable, ferocious currents. 250,000 strokes later, if things go as planned, he’ll reach Baja Mexico on the other side, just north of Loreto.
Paul Lundgren, Sea of Cortez (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Because of Sting Rays laying camouflage in the sandy sea bottom Paul must slowly shuffle his feet out to swimming depths to avoid a sting. (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
(Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Paul Lundgren, Sea of Cortez: Early on in the swim, as the crew was finding their tempo, Paul is seen here taking a moment to look deep … 5,000ft deep. (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Paul Lundgren, Sea of Cortez: From this point we’ll all board the dingy and boat in to shore. The dingy would play a rather interesting role in the trip roughly 20 hours later. (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Paul Lundgren (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
(Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
(Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
(Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
(Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
(Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Jamie Patrick and Paul Lundgren coordinate the final few details before loading up in the vans and driving to the boat. Jamie is an amazing ultra athlete himself and will serve as crew leader in the Swim Cortez 2013 attempt. (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Kayaks go out for 1-2 hour shifts and carry a variety of nutrition mixes for Paul. During the 2012 swim, Paul fueled roughly every 20 minutes. Marathon swimmer Phil Cutti swims with Paul. (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Not long into the swim, the headcurrent remains strong. Fellow swimmer Jamie Patrick is seen, watching Paul, wondering is the currents will switch in our favor. (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Paul & family at dinner (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Paul taking in a moment of calm before boarding the dingy and traveling in to shore for the official launch of SoloCortez 2012. (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
(Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Solocortez 2012 team seen here arriving in Punta Chivato and enjoying the view. Spirits were light, excited and enjoyable. From here, we’d head to dinner, grab a drink and get everything organized to sleep, load and launch 12 hours later. (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Paul Lundgren, Sea of Cortez (Image is courtesy of Scott Rokis Photography: http://www.scottrokis.com/ )
Many thanks to Scott Rokis (Scott Rokis Photography) for providing these beautiful swimming photos to SwimSwam.