Former NFL player goes overboard and swims 9 miles

http://abcnews.go.com/US/miami-dolphin-player-falls-overboard-swims-miles-shore/story?id=28098407

I'm in reasonably good shape but that's seriously hard core. I expect I would have died.

That's some serious roid rage.

Not surprising. The article clearly states he was a Dolphin, after all. Could have been much worse if he had played for Detroit...

Why do you say that , how did you reach that conclusion (your math)?

Seems to me its very similar to Tourists swim 14 hours after boat sinks - ETS Forums
8 miles from land, swim for 14 hours, warm water (above 70 farenheit)


This guy is 6'3" 250lb, water temp was 75, swam 9 miles for 10-12 hours ...

Rob Konrad: Former Miami Dolphin falls off fishing boat, swims 9 miles to shore, Coast Guard says - wptv.com

I can stay afloat for a long time if the water is warm enough, but swimming that far is really, really hard. The one triathlon I did was incredibly challenging and it was only a half-mile swim. I suspect that it's more than 18 times as hard.

One factor that is not mentioned in any of the articles is the nature of the currents existing at the time of his swim. Even a very mild current could have been a significant factor in the distance he covered.

How 9 miles swimming is depends a LOT on the current. If it's helping you, it's not too bad.

9 miles does sound impressive for a non-competitive swimmer. As for competetive swimmers, I know people who swim half marathons in far less time for fun...

And wear your life jacket.

ESPECIALLY if you're on the water alone!

The triathalon, its a race right?
And the half-mile swim was more like a half-mile sprint?
Water was cold and current was strong?

I think if you can run/finish a triathalon and you can float (half the battle) you can do a nine miles swim, provided you aren't going upstream and you aren't trying too hard.


I think your memory of the hard swim is messing with your confidence ... maybe your frestyle form is also messing with your confidence, do you experience shoulder pain?

Do you go swimming every week?
When I was in grade school, I used to do 40 laps in olympic size swimming pool a few times a week , thats a 1.2 miles
My form was good so no shoulder pain.
When I got tired I would float on my back , kick my feet, maybe flap my arms a little but mostly rest arms....

I went swimming again recently after many years break, and my freestyle is horrible, but I'm confident I could do 9 miles with the backstroke, its mostly just holding your breath a little (float), kicking frequently (like walking), and flapping my arms ... its easier to push water by your side than to reach out and grab it

So I think you could nine mile swim chaosmagnet

Here is an inspirational article about front crawl freestyle

Thank you for the vote of confidence! For the record, I do not believe for a moment that if I found myself in that sort of situation that I would give up. If I don't achieve my goal of being shot by a jealous husband at the age of 103, my plan is to die fighting until the last gasp. I won't give up until something makes me.

The triathlon I did was in a very calm lake. I was wearing a wetsuit, which helps a great deal with buoyancy; the water temperature was pretty good for the wetsuit.

From my time scuba diving, swimming in a wet suit is excessively tiring, especially on the upper body. This was in a 1/4" suit; I imagine swimming would be easier in a thinner rig.

Swimming 9 miles is tough because of how long you are in the water (period). No drinking water, so you are dehydrating for 8-10 hours if you swim well, longer if you don't (how long was this guy in the water?).

I used to swim a mile on my lunch break, then I had lunch. The only swim strokes I use are distance strokes -- breast-stroke, side-stroke. I did a 45 min mile using a breast-stroke, but that was for all of 1 mile in a pool. 9 miles in the ocean is a long distance to just pick up after finding yourself unexpectedly in the water.

Necessity is a great motivator; he had no other good options.

If he had been properly harnessed in then the situation would not have occurred in the first place.

I think I could do this if I had a life vest on. I also think I could walk/run a marathon without training if the other option was death.

Modern wetsuits are pretty easy to swim in, if they fit right. Considering the warmth and buoyancy advantages, I'll take them whenever I can get them, if the water isn't very warm.

Depends on the wetsuit. Triathlon/swimmers wetsuit are far more supple and flexibile.

Dive and surf wetsuits are not very good for swimming.

I swim 2-3 times per week and usually about 1 to 1.5 miles per. For the average casual and non regular swimmer, they could not do this distance let alone 9 miles.

I am highly skeptical of this person's claim. He may of been in the drink for 10 hours but even with a strong inward current, I don't see it. I am not alone in this thinking. Both the Washington Post and Newsweek are questioning this man's claim. Conveniently, he is not talking about his 9 mile experience...

I converted it to km. 9 miles is 14km, extremely long swim. He would have had to swim at least 1.1km/hour to make it in 12 hours. That is 22 laps per hour in an olympic size pool. Hour after hour after hour....

Today in a media interview, Konrad now claims he was in the water for 16 hours and covered 27 miles due to currents. Not sure what to think and although we may never know the complete story - he did survive to live another day.

http://abc7news.com/sports/rob-konrad-i-shouldnt-be-here/471998/

Yeah, I too watched that interview; he seemed very sincere and humbled by the experience. Considering the Gulf Stream is off the coast of Florida it doesn't surprise me at all that he was pushed north.

He was hospitalized for hypothermia and dehydration. He did talk to the media today but was still not fully recovered.

His boat was found.

He wasn't "found" by searchers - after reaching shore he rested until he could walk and rang the doorbell on a house nearby to get help. So there should be plenty witnesses to talk to and ocean drift rates to calculate - and medical records if he releases them - if the press is skeptical.