A 9-year-old kid from central California just pulled off the swim of a lifetime.
James Savage, of Los Banos (yes, that’s a real town — albeit very, very small) set a record as the youngest swimmer to ever make the journey from San Francisco to Alcatraz Island and back. It took him more than two hours, as Alcatraz is more than a mile from the mainland.
The previous record was held by a 10-year-old kid.
James told reporters he wanted to give up 30 minutes into the swim after large waves in the San Francisco Bay kept jacking him in the face.
“I wanted to turn back and they kept yelling, ‘I believe you you can do it’,” James told CBS Fresno affiliate KGPE.
His father says he had offered his son $100 as a reward; to encourage his struggling son, his father doubled it to $200.
First of many thoughts — have you ever been to the Bay Area? It’s cold. The water this kid was swimming in was 58 degrees!
Also, have you been to Alcatraz? Creepy stuff. This kid is a freaking hero. And for $200?? Try swimming one mile. You’ll keel over.
However, if we now know a 9-year-old can make the swim, doesn’t it mean it’s certain the men who escaped in 1962 could have???
Any who, James told media his next goal is to swim the Golden Gate Bridge, which is 8,981 feet. What were you doing in 4th grade? I was trying to create my own professional basketball league. It never got off the ground.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports. Follow him on Twitter or like the channel on Facebook.
Photo: Getty
