This is what ramping it up looks like while managing a full time job with work travel and planning the logistics for Swim California. Here are the past four weeks:

Week of 3/23: M: Easy Swim ➡ Tu: OW Swim ➡ W: 7k Paddle ➡ Th: Weights + 5k ➡ F: Pool Swim ➡ Sa: Ski Patrol ➡ Su: Pool 10,000 in 2:12 🟰 15 hours exercise ➕ 29,000 yds

Week of 3/30: M: Rest Day ➡ Tu: OW Swim ➡ W: OW Swim + Weights ➡ Th: Weights + 5k ➡ F: OW Swim + Prone Paddle ➡ Sa: OW Swim 10,000 in 2:18 ➡ Su: OW Swim 8,000 🟰 12 hours exercise ➕ 40,000 yds

Week of 4/6: Hard week as we are doing North Coast Recon * M: Pool 12,000 ➡ Tu: OW Swim ➡ W: OW Swim ➡ Th: OW Swim ➡ F: Weights ➡ Sa: Wedding ➡ Su: Pool Swim 12,000 2.5 hours (in the snow!) 🟰 12 hours exercise ➕ 40,000 yds

Week of 4/14: In ATL for work all week* M: Travel Day ➡ Tu: Pool Swim ➡ W: Pool Swim ➡ Th: Pool Swim ➡ F: Travel Day ➡ Sa: Ski Patrol ➡ Su: Moving Day 🟰 12 hours exercise ➕ 5,000 yds

Week of 4/21: Main Effort this week is 3×3 hours in San Diego + 2x Weight sessions of which I am starting to work with a coach.

My goal right now is to have 10,000 holding 1:12-1:15 pool and 1:22-1:25 OW feel easy. Were pretty much there. 😃

The first week of May to 3× 5 hour back to back swims.The end of May will have a 6 hour and beginning of June 2× 4 hour in Humboldt.

Could I be doing more? Probably.

Can I? Not really with the hours in a day.

Do I need to? Not necessarily, I spoke with Jono Ridler and Daragh Morgan who swam the length of New Zealand and around Ireland respectively and I am doing the right amount.

I spoke the Olympic Club the other night and two things I keep coming back to are:

The community and support piece has been so cool. The other week Matt Sessions, Dave Monachello and myself drove to Brookings, Oregon and then down to Point Arena. We met with local experts: Coast Guard, Harbor Masters, State Lifeguards, Scientists, Surfers, Fishermen and Surfrider. They all were so helpful and willing to be part of this project. I fully expected people to respond to me saying, “that is impossible, I don’t want any part of it.“ It has been the opposite.

At this dinner event in Arcata we met with expert surfers, scientists, and kayakers. It was truly an honor to sit down with this group and gain some wisdom from them.

I really need to write down all the names of the people who have helped me along the way…I think we are nearing the 100 mark.

What I am most excited about during this swim is learning so much more about this coastline and meeting new people, hearing and sharing their stories. I mean how cool is it that I get to spend 4 months in this place. This has never been done before for a reason but I also think it is 100% possible and worth it.

🙂 Twin Fin Whales

This is a super cool video of supposedly twin fin whales, an expceptionally rare occurence.

Honestly…it was hard to find something positive and that is sad.

😢 “What a 5,000-mile long marine heat wave means for summer in the US”

The blob in 2014-16 caused mass die offs, devastation to the fisheries, and huge algal blooms…basically it is not good. We might be seeing that again.

“And it has the attention of climate scientists, who say it could boost temperatures, humidity and the threat for tropical storms in the West during the months ahead. Climate scientist Daniel Swain described this increasingly extreme marine heat wave as an “exceptional event” that’s breaking records.And it has the attention of climate scientists, who say it could boost temperatures, humidity and the threat for tropical storms in the West during the months ahead. Climate scientist Daniel Swain described this increasingly extreme marine heat wave as an “exceptional event” that’s breaking records.”

Behind the swim is a whole team and so I just want to shoutout the people who have made getting this far possible.

Each newsletter I am going to shoutout someone who went above and beyond. This week I want to shoutout:

💙Patrick Devlin. You know when you did sports as a kid and there was that one teammate that cheered for EVERYONE and always brought the best snacks and made the nice cards and was just like the glue of the team in their own supportive, silly way? The person that when you were stressed and in a terrible mood could pull you out of it?

Well, that has been Pat. He ran the fundraising strategy for this project and has helped plan and organize two of our key events. He has been the glue and so much more.

Thank you for being you Pat, even when I roll my eyes at you, I still love ya! And thank you Mrs. Devlin for letting him spend so much time supporting this crazy project.

I also want to thank all the donors who have gotten us to 85% of our goal! We are still looking for a final anchor donation to close the 15%.

This isn’t just my swim; it’s a journey for all of us who love the ocean, crave adventure, and believe in trying something even when it feels impossible. Thank you for being here.

Donations are currently being accepted through my 501-c3 non-profit, Sea Dreamers. During Swim California we will be stopping and having various Sea Dreamers events to bring more women and girls into the ocean and create more awareness around ocean conservation—because I believe we fight for what we love and women fight pretty damn hard.