Autobiography

Ever since I was four years old I have loved swimming. My first teacher was my own mother, Ruth Herberger, who lured me into an Italian lake with toys that she took deeper and deeper until I found myself swimming and discovered a new bliss. Swimming has always been my personal refuge and therapy, especially through the turbulent adolescent years. I would often escape home just to go swimming, especially late at night, the crack of dawn, during thunder storms and lightning.

I have done very little competing over the years – just a few long distance swims – though I was chosen in the 1960′s for training for the upcoming Olympics in Munich. The money never came through for the training in my local area so this never materialized, though it gave me faith that I must be a very good swimmer.

In 2005 my life took a dramatic turn. While I was interviewing for a position as a university professor in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico – which I accepted shortly after – I injured my meniscus in my left knee. My Canadian insurance policy required for me to return to Canada to have the surgery, but neglected to tell me that I would most likely be placed on a lengthy wait list. In hindsight, I wish I had simply stayed in Mexico and payed for my surgery there.

What followed in Canada was a nightmare. Without any risk assessment or preventive care, I was placed on an extended wait list. If any doctor would have cared to ask me a few questions it would have been obvious that I was at extreme risk for a thrombosis.

Nine days into the wait I was diagnosed with a massive thrombosis.

Six years later I still suffer the aftereffects of that thrombosis that never resolved because it was discovered far too late – a classic case of medical neglect. Since there is no cure, surgery or medical treatment for my condition, I have discovered that the only way to manage my health is through swimming, and the wearing of compression stockings while on land. The more I swim the better I feel.

So it was a severe medical condition that had me reinvent my life, and the oceans called. It is likely that I would not have been able to have the vision of swimming these huge routes If I had not been struck down with a disability that only the ocean can amend while I am a part of Her. The ocean is in dire trouble. So am I. Both of us suffer the neglect of of a type of thinking that does not connect in a holistic way our actions with the larger universe.

In 2007 I went to Costa Rica for a 7 km open ocean swim race. That journey became the beginning of a completely different life for me. While volunteering as a translator for a tour guide, I looked across the Golfo Dulce, a 22 km wide golf, and decided to swim it. Because I had very little money, the boat support sponsor asked me if he could inform the media of my proposed swim since no one had ever attempted to swim across the golf. His business was hurting so he needed the media attention. To my great surprise, the swim got a huge amount of publicity all the way to Europe since it had similarity with the first ever crossing of the British channel.

It seemed natural to me to dedicate my swims to the establishment of marine sanctuaries and I realized that the actual swimming cost me very little effort. On that first crossing I spent nine hours in the water and found myself without any fatigue at the end of it. Eight hour swim days are easy for me and are of great help in promoting marine protected areas through the publicity they gain in the world media.

These swims are my calling and I intend to continue swimming them until my last days. Because of my educational background (see CV) I spend at least two days a week giving free presentations in schools along my swim routes.

Education is key to changing public attitudes towards the ocean, and I truly enjoy working with young people. So far, I have talked to approximately ten thousand students. I hope to be able to influence the fate of our global ocean in a positive way through these extensive swim actions.