Ryan Wach got into open-water swimming about three years ago after growing up fishing and swimming in high school.
On Monday, the 42-year-old is going to put his talents to the test by attempting to complete the Alcatraz “escape” swim, which comes to about 1.5 miles, using only butterfly strokes.
“I like to take on challenges that I don’t know that I can do before I do them,” Wach said in a phone interview.
A lifelong lover of the butterfly stroke, Wach said he’s done the Bridge to Bridge swim in San Francisco, going from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge for a total of 6.2 miles, but that was using regular strokes most of the way. He used the butterfly to finish the final 50 meters, and after seeing a video of him doing so, thought it would be a unique experience to attempt the Alcatraz swim using only those strokes.
“It sounded insane, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind,” Wach said. “And so I started training, just going as long as I possibly could.”
Not doing it just for fun, Wach is attempting to raise awareness of child sex trafficking. He’s donating all proceeds of the charity swim to Operation Underground Railroad, an organization created in 2013 dedicated to supporting law enforcement agencies as they work to fight against sex trafficking, specifically when it comes to children.
“It’s such a heinous crime that goes on, that it’s like really uncomfortable to even think about the topic,” Wach said. “But at the same time, it’s something that I feel like we, as people, should combat that.”
Despite his history of swimming in long-distance events, Wach said this will be his toughest test. He said he found it difficult to find how many people have attempted to do what he is planning to do, but estimates that only a dozen or so have been able to complete it.
“You’re taking so much of your body out of the water,” Wach said. “I mean, your whole shoulders and head and everything have to come up and out of the water with every single stroke, which doesn’t occur with any other.”
To donate to Wach’s cause, visit tinyurl.com/26verbvj.
