Meet the Competitors of the 24-Mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim

CLEARWATER, Florida, April 10. THE Sixth Annual Tampa Bay Marathon Swim will be held on Saturday, April 19 to celebrate Earth Day. The 24 mile competition starts at 7:00am from the Sunshine Skyway at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort (800 227 8045) and ends at Ben T. Davis Beach on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. The race course covers the entire length of Tampa Bay.

Since this event was first staged in 1998, it has drawn competitors from across the United States, and from as far away as England, the Dominican Republic, Germany, India, Canada, and the Cayman Islands. This year, seven individual swimmers and seven relay teams will compete for honors.

SOLO SWIMMERS
Dave Parcells, 44, of Madison, Connecticut, will compete for the fifth consecutive time in the Tampa swim. He has always finished in the top 6 in previous years. In 2002, Dave became the fourth American, 16th person worldwide and the oldest person in history to successfully complete a double crossing of the English Channel (21 hours, 30 minutes).

Laura Colette, 38, of San Jose, California returns to Tampa after successfully completing the swim in 2002 (13 hours, 20 minutes). She competes for Club Sport Fremont where her brother is the Aquatics Director. She is also a member of the Nefarious Sunrisers of the South End Rowing Club. She has competed in the Santa Cruz to Monterey relay, Llyn Padarn, Wales, and has swum the 22 mile Loch Loman in Scotland.

Pat Marzulli, 54, of Indian Rocks Beach, Florida has participated in the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim as a relay member and also as an escort boat captain. He is a seasoned open water swimmer, and has successfully completed the 12.5 mile Swim Around Key West, the St. Croix 5 Mile Coral Reef Swim, and the Bonaire Ecoswim. He competes for the St. Petersburg Masters swim team.

Kevin Norris, 41, of Tampa, Florida has completed 3 Ironman distance triathlons. He swam for Robinson High School in Tampa, where he still holds the 100 yard breaststroke record he set in 1979. This is his first attempt to swim a marathon swim distance.

Kathleen Wilson, 39, Charleston, South Carolina swam the English Channel in August 2001 (13 hours, 10 minutes), and swam the 28 Mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in 1999 (7 hours, 38 minutes).

Hal Clarendon, 57, of Gainesville, Florida is the editor and publisher of Outdoor Adventure Magazine. He will be making his fourth attempt to complete the Tampa Bay swim, hoping to make the entire 24 mile distance for the first time.

Matt Price, 22, of West Point, New York is finishing his final year as a cadet at the United States Military Academy. He is a member of the water polo club, competing in the Collegiate Water Polo Association. He is scheduled to swim the English Channel in July 2003.

RELAY SWIMMERS
The Mullets are Brian Rimel and Tim Kennedy of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Jill Gellatly of Houston, Texas. Rimel was the Florida LMSC Distance/Open Water Male Swimmer of the year in 2002. Gellatly is highly ranked nationally in distance and pool events, and Kennedy completed the Tampa Bay Marathon in 1999 as a soloist (10 hours, 42 minutes).

Tampa Bay Aquatic Club of Tampa Florida is represented by Joe Solak, 38, Clara Reynolds, 33, and Tom Rawls, 35. They are competing in their fourth consecutive Tampa Bay Marathon Swim as a three-person relay team.
Beauties and the Beasts are John Cox, 69, Robert Beach, 72, David McCord, 54, Pam Geiger, 50, Jo Ann Harrelson, 47, and Konrad Euler, 67. They all swim for the St. Petersburg Masters swim team. The team features the oldest female (Harrelson-age 43 in 1999) and oldest male (Euler-age 66 in 2002) swimmers who have completed the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim as soloists.

Ali-Sally-Ali are Alison Streeter, 38, Sally Minty-Gravett, 45, and Alison Lee Horsfall, 29. They are from the United Kingdom, and represent the Jersey Long Distance Swim Club. Streeter is known as the "Queen of the Channel" because she holds the record for swimming across the English Channel more than anyone else in history (40 successful crossings).

# 9 Relay Team are Michel Embry, 55, Joe Guidry, 52, David Kirkam, 48, Jim Zinner, 47, Barton Cobb, 48, and Al Robinson, 59. They are endurance athletes from the Tampa Bay area.

Edodos are Tim Lawrence, 37, from Montgomery, Alabama, and Matt Johnson, 40, from Frankfurt, Germany. They are graduates of the United States Air Force Academy, and are currently active personel in the USAF. In 1999 Lawrence became the first American to successfully swim the 42 mile course around Jersey Island, UK.

Shippensburg State College, Old School are Chris Burke, 41, David Whitehead, 41, Doug German, 39, Mark McCormick, 39, Rob Spence 40, and Wynn Fertig, 43. All members of this relay team are reuniting 20 years after competing as varsity swimmers at Shippensburg State College in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

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