- April 29, 2024
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The Swim Around Key West race had been on Carrie Purdy’s bucket list for a while. She just needed a little push.
Purdy, the swim coach at Matanzas High and the Flagler Fluid Swim Team, had suggested a couple of years ago to fellow swimmers Alana Shawah and Dr. Sonia Millan that they form a team and share the 12.5-mile open-water swim.
This year, Millan decided it was time to enter.
“Carrie had mentioned that it was on her bucket list,” Millan said. “In the winter, I said, ‘That’s it, I’m pulling the trigger.’ So I registered us. I asked, ‘What do you want our team name to be?’ Crickets. So I picked ‘Swims Like a Hippo.’ It was kind of ironic, because they don’t look graceful at all, but they’re pretty good swimmers.”
The “Swims Like a Hippo” team consists of pretty good swimmers too. On June 17, Shawah, Purdy and Millan finished first in the Swim Around Key West three-person female relay division with a time of 4 hours, 55 minutes and 28 seconds.
They received conch shell trophies for their achievement.
They found out after the race that the water might have been warmer and choppier than any time in the race’s 47-year history.
The trio trained to each swim a 4.1- or 4.2-mile leg. But because of the water temperature, which topped 90 degrees, the race director suggested they switch off with shorter stints. So, they decided to start off an hour in the water each and then switch swimmers every half hour.
“Hot water is my Kryptonite,” said Millan, who has the most open-water swimming experience among the three women.
Millan has completed the eight-mile Swim for Alligator Lighthouse race at Islamorada. In that grueling event, she got stung by a jellyfish and saw a shark. Millan is a sports medicine physician with AdventHealth. She lives in Ormond-by-the-Sea and swims on the Masters swim team at the Ormond Beach YMCA.
Shawah and Purdy both swam in college and have more pool experience than Millan. While Purdy has some open water swim experience in lifeguard competitions, Shawah only swam in open water in sprint triathlons. At Key West, she swam the first one-hour leg, which turned out to be the roughest. She also swam the last leg.
“We calculated I swam almost five miles,” Shawah said. “I swam in way worse conditions but not for this long. I was kind of nervous. As I swam out, I saw a big tarpon. That freaked me out. I swam through a bunch of seagrass, and that wasn’t pleasant.”
Shawah, a dietitian and health education program manager with the Flagler Department of Health, swims in the Fluid Masters program.
The swimmers were led by a motorboat and a kayak, which Purdy’s husband and Shawah’s and Millan’s boyfriends took turns paddling. The kayakers stayed close to the swimmers and handed them food and water.
“Navigating the path was tough,” Purdy said. “We relied so much on the boat and the kayaker to lead us.”
Purdy’s children came along on the boat. Her 14-year-old daughter said she’d like to try the swim next year.
“I’m pretty proud of all of us,” Purdy said. “It was an experience. We might try to get a group of high school swimmers who swim for Fluid to try it next year. It’s a team-building and a friendship building accomplishment.”
Said Shawah: “It was a great overall experience doing it with these two women and the whole crew. The guys did great job kayaking, and the girls did great job swimming.”
