No One Is Tougher In The Open Water Than Andy Walberer

All kinds of incredible feats in the open water performed by people over the last several decades have been frequently reported and further analyzed.

Long swims. Cold swims. Rough swims. Swims by disabled swimmers, swimmers who overcome cancer and horrific accidents.

All remarkable achievements.

But there is no tougher swimmer than J. Andrew Walberer, PhD who recently completed a 42 km crossing of the Molokai Channel under the escort of Michael Twigg-Smith. Twigg-Smith reported, "He started at Papohohako Beach on Molokai Island at 5:58 pm last night and finished this morning at 8:47 am at Alan Davis Beach on Oahu."

Walberer, a father of four and a lifelong pool swimmer, admits, “I enjoy pursuing personal goals outside of work, particularly planning, training, and pursuing athletic challenges" - which include two night-time swims: a 23.3-mile Chicago Skyline Swim in Lake Michigan and a 32.3 km crossing of the Catalina Channel in 9 hours 43 minutes.

His choice of sports matches his own assessment of his physical tools, “I think I’m designed for distance swimming, full of slow twitch muscles."

But Dr. Walberer has grit and guts like few others.

Bill Goding tells the incredible story of a man entirely focused on achieving his goal of crossing the Molokai Channel. "Ryan Leong, Stefan Reinke, and I met with Andy this morning at Ala Moana Beach Park [on Oahu]. We gave him a certificate and wanted to hear about his Molokai Channel crossing. He casually tells us that six hours into the swim [around midnight], he was hit by two cookie cutter sharks."

Note: swimmers who are attacked by cookie cutter sharks are immediately pulled from the water and medically attended to, as the escort boat races to shore to seek further medical attention.

Goding continues the story, "We thought he was joking until he lifted his shirt. Somehow, when the cookie cutter sharks tried to latch on, Andy was able to grab them and fling them away."

Fling them away? Are you kidding? Two of them?!? With his bare hands, with his goggles on?!?!? And then carry on with his swim...in the darkness at night in the middle of the Channel of Bones?!?!?!?

Goding calmly summarized his feat, "Two sharks? To finish the swim and not completely freak out, he definitely gets a gold star."

Dr. Walberer found the pandemic and closing of pools was the catalyst for him to get into marathon swimming after a lifetime of swimming. “I’d been a pool swimmer most of my life. During the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, a group of five of us came together and started swimming regularly in Lake Michigan, and only three blocks from my house. One of the guys in our group - Professor Will Dichtel - was supposed to swim the English Channel in 2020, but his swim was cancelled due to COVID, so he decided to attempt the 23-mile Chicago Skyline Swim instead. As his training partner, I joined his support crew as a kayaker and had a front row seat to the odyssey of his 12+ hour swim. It was an amazing experience being part of his swim, so I decided that I would try the swim myself the next year.”

The Molokai Channel crossing was his third career nighttime crossing; the first time with sharks (as in plural). Dr. Walberer is now three for three, a perfect record of success - even after facing cookie cutter sharks face-to-face in night in the depths of the Pacific.

By Steven Munatones.