|
|
|
|
|
Record-Breaking Swimmer Penny Lee Dean Ends 22-Year
Retirement for Benefit Swim
|
 |
Pomona College Professor Plans to Ignore Pain in Return
to Water
|
|
 |
| |
Dean |
Penny Lee Dean never met Carly Rae Collard-Cottone, but
it is in her memory that Dean, who holds 13 world records
for long-distance swimming, is participating in a marathon
swim for the first time in more than 20 years.
Dean, now a professor of physical education and the women’s
swimming and water polo coach at Pomona College, is coming
out of retirement to take part in Carly’s Crossing, a
26-mile swim across Lake Erie to raise funds for pediatric
cancer research. The event is a fundraiser for Carly's Club,
founded three years ago by Carly Rae Collard-Cottone, a New
York girl who lost both parents to cancer and then was
diagnosed with brain cancer herself. After a three-year
battle with the disease, Carly died on Aug. 16, 2002.
Carly’s Crossing is being held in her memory on Aug. 16, the
first anniversary of her death.
“I’m proud to lend my support to Carly’s Crossing,” said
Dean, who in addition to swimming is also coaching the
event’s other marathon swimmers. “To be able to do something
like this is important to me.”
Dean’s accomplishments are legendary in the world of
long-distance swimming. She broke the record for crossing
the English Channel by more than an hour. She sheared
one-and-a-half hours off the mainland-to-Catalina-Island
record, and then cut nearly seven hours off the round-trip
mark. She twice set the world record for swimming 36,000
meters – about 20 miles – in a pool. Dean was inducted into
the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1996.
To put it in perspective, if Hank Aaron had broken Babe
Ruth’s career home-run record by the same margin that Dean
broke the world record for crossing the English Channel, he
would have had to hit an additional 223 home runs. Roger
Bannister would have had to run a mile in 3:32, rather than
slipping under the historic 4-minute mile barrier.
Dean was forced to give up competition in the early 1980s,
when her doctors told her to stop all exercise. Years of
swimming three to fifteen miles a day, six days a week in
the ocean, and an additional three to five hours a day in
the pool had taken a toll on her body, and injury and
illness left her in constant physical pain, making it
impossible for her to continue. But Dean didn’t leave the
sport she loved. Dean is the women’s swimming and water polo
coach at Pomona College, where first started coaching in
1978, after graduating from Pomona College in 1977.
In addition to coaching, Dean is the author of several
books, including “Open Water Swimming: A Complete Guide for
Distance Swimmers and Triathletes” and “How to Swim a
Marathon.” Would-be marathon swimmers often contact Dean for
advice, which is how Dean met Joe Zwierzchowski, a
42-year-old swim coach from New York. Zwierzchowski was a
friend of Carly’s and he conceived of Carly's Crossing.
Earlier this year, he e-mailed Dean to ask for some tips.
Once Dean learned more about what Zwierzchowski was doing,
she offered to coach him.
Zwierzchowski and two members of the State University of New
York at Buffalo women's swim team plan to swim across Lake
Erie from Dunkirk, New York, to Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada.
The three main swimmers will be accompanied by 52 boys and
girls ages 11 to 17, each of whom will swim a one-mile
stretch. The youth swimmers are from various swim clubs
throughout Western New York and Southern Ontario.
Dean plans to swim one mile of the marathon, as well. Dean’s
participation in the swim is evidence of her dedication to
the cause. As a champion athlete, Dean used to swim for more
than 24 hours at a time. Now, swimming 100 yards can tire
her. But Dean didn’t let pain and fatigue get to her when
she made her record-breaking swims, and she won’t let it
stop her now.
“I’m going to be in pain regardless of whether I’m on shore,
on the boat or in the water,” Dean said. “Why not see if I
can help? If that little bit of help can inspire another
person, then it is worth it.”
For more information on Carly’s Crossing or to make a
donation to Carly’s Club, visit www.carlyscrossing.org. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Follow Our News on... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick Links |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Explore Pomona's Web |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Find It |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Search |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
