Join us at 9:30 AM on Saturday August 18, 2012 for our third annual Rose Pitonof Swim.

Here is the NYTimes article about Rose’s record breaking swim on August 13, 1911.  (Below, more coverage of her achievement.   I love the drawing of her route, and the “TIME TABLE OF GIRL’S GREAT SWIMMING FEAT.”)

Video coverage of Swim from Ed Dutchmazz, including great footage of Lori, Cara, and Alan coming ashore.

Photos from Maureen Donaghy, kicking it off with a swath of pink fabric.

Great flickr set from “Princess Polar Bear” Capri Djatiasmoro.

Photo of JC, Parachute Jump, and Pier from Terry O’Malley as JC closes in on the finish line.

Another great flickr set from JP Reardon.

Aline Dolan got some pics at the beach and at Ruby’s.

Nicole Mermet took some great shots of the day.

Cat Mardis’ shots from Cara’s pink boat.

Will post more updates shortly…please feel free to add your own links!

So strong, fast…such a fantastic celebration!

• Lori Carena: 5:47:08
• Cara McAteer 5:51:05
• Leonard Jansen: 6:01:15,
• Jaimie Monahan: 6:03:48
• Alan Morrison: 6:09:04
• Jason Malick: 6:24:53

Please share your story…

On Sunday Aug 13th 1911, to clear all doubt from the most skeptical & to show the world that Championship Timber is certainly in her makeup, she eclipsed her own grand & unparrelled record of 1910 by swimming from Bellvue Pier, E 26th St. to Steeple Chase Park Coney Island, distance 25 miles, time 8 hours and 7 minutes, a swim some experts declared could never be accomplished by anybody.

They said the writer was mad, to let a little girl attempt to swim a distance of 25 miles, they offered to pay all the writer’s expenses to call it off. That it would be the means of killing her, and in the next place nobody living could accomplish such a distance.

The Ametuer & Professional Swimming Clubs of NY sent the writer letters by mail, saying it would be a crime to let her attempt it. Their letters were answered in the following tone, Gentlemen, if you can spare the time on morning of the 13th, come & see her win out. If you cannot come, than watch the morning papers of 14th.

On the never to be forgotten Sunday August 13th, 1911, Miss Rose Pitonof, Champion Swimmer of the World, and one of the bravest that ever plunged in the briny, appeared at the starting point which was Bellvue Pier, foot of E 26th St. accompanyed by her father, Mr Eli Pitonof, her brother, Adolph, members of the press, refferees, time keepers, invited guests and coach who escorted her the entire journey & precisely at 9:20 A.M. started on her greatest of all endurance swims of 25 miles to Steeple Chase Coney Island.Think of it why you would hardly believe your eyes, this brave little school girl, accomplishing a mark in long distance swimming, that set two hemispheres in awe & wonder, a swim that was attempted no less than a dozen times by other famous world wide professional & ametuers without success.

She reached her goal, after making one of the gamest struggles ever witnessed in this or any other part of the world, swimming against the wicked flood tide of the East River, for 2 1/2 hours out of the 8 hours she was in the water, without taking nourishment of any kind, not even a teaspoon of water.

she went on with grim determination, & the pluck of a lion, to reach her goal which was Steeple Chase Pier Coney Island, which she did with the greatest reception ever tendered a titled grown head, and was received by upwards of 100,000 people, who in their frenzy to have a look at this wonderfuly little girl, nearly turned into a mob riot.

The very boat that guided her, in this her greatest of all record swims was dismantled by this infuriated mob of enthusiastic humanity. For souvenirs they took possession of the seats, oars, & oar locks, to take home for rememberance of the Greatest Endurance Swim of the 20th Century.

Unlike the rivers around Manhattan this weekend, Coney Island ocean waters are still open for public use.  Here’s what that looked like back in Rose’s time:

Bathing and Wading at Coney Island 1910

Bathing at Coney Island 1908

1911 Bathing Suit Magazine Ad

For more pictures and info about women’s bathing suits in the 1900’s, take a look at this piece from Victoriana Magazine.

Here is a quote from the above mentioned article: “During the early 1900s, people flocked to oceanside beaches for popular seaside activities as swimming, surf bathing, and diving.  The only activity for women in the ocean involved jumping through the waves while holding onto a rope attached to an off-shore buoy. Their clumsy Victorian and Edwardian style bathing costumes were often quite burdensome.

Women typically dressed in black, knee-length, puffed-sleeve wool dresses, often featuring a sailor collar, and worn over bloomers or drawers trimmed with ribbons and bows. The bathing costume was typically accessorized with long black stockings, lace-up bathing slippers, and fancy caps. ”

But saltwater bathing and wading weren’t the only Coney Island water fun activities available back then…

There was the Steeplechase Swimming Pool:

Steeplechase Pool 1912

Shooting the Chutes:

Shooting the Chutes, Luna Park, Coney Island 1912

Shooting the Chutes, Coney Island NY

Top of the Dreamland Chutes, Coney Island 1910

Steamboat Rides:

Coney Island Waterfront Steamboat 1919

(There must have been much more than this going on out there at the time…bath houses, other swimming pools, vaudeville water performance venues?  If anyone has more pictures/info to add, please let me know!)

at National Head Quarters, while the writer, a 20 year veteran life guard holding the rank of Commodore, in the U.S. Life Saving Force, was engaged in turning in his weekly reports of rescues from drowning in his district, there appeared a finely developed, clean cut young lady, accompanyed by her maid, her manager, and his friend, their very pleasant visit was made to seek information about the best swimming records in long distance swimming ever made from N.Y. to Coney Island, also the tides &c.

The Secretary of the organization, M.K. Merthens, referred them to the writer as an expert on tides, long distance swims, channels, &c. also that in coaching, he has the proud record in the organization of always bringing in the winners of the long distance swims held annually by the organization, a compliment worth remembering.

bred & born in Boston, announced through her manager she was ready & anxious and could out swim and out distance any long distance swim that was ever made by any champion men & women included.

Her manager & the writer entered into business & mapped out a course of 17 1/2 miles from East 23rd St. Pier, East River to Coney Island, the swim to take place on the morning of the 18th at 8:30 AM.

In less than one hour after, it was rumored through Head Quarters, a little 15 year old girl, in short dresses, came down from the New England states for the purpose of eclipsing & defeating any Battery Coney Island swimming record that was ever accomplished in N.Y. water.

They picked two of their very best swimmers with good endurance records who accomplished some previous records in & around N.Y.  They waited in hiding behind the opposite pier, on that never to be forgotten September 18, 1910 which was foot of East 24th St. for the little Boston girl to start, which on their part was very unsportsmanlike, not hinting or letting no body or any body know they were up to this trick, not even the writer who gave 20 years of his life in the service of the organization.

Miss Pitonof won as recorded, the greatest marvel & long distance swimmer the world has ever known.

She, Miss Pitonof, not only beat her two ambitious rivals, but also beat & broke the World’s Championship records, in the fastest time ever recorded in this or any other part of the world, distance 17 1/2 miles, her timemade at Head Quarters, that she could outswim the world’s very best records in long distance swimming, either sex included.

Did she make good, she certainly did, and what’s more it remains unduplicated.

This brave little mermaid was hailed and pronounced by the sporting fraternity of the country the undisputed & undefeated Champion of the World, and will defend the title against all comers, either sex.

Deanne and Martin

Yesterday afternoon a small group of us (myself, Dan, Jason, Emeka, and Martin) hit the water for a test swim prior to event day. (Just a month away!)

We start at Lincoln Harbor in NJ, and head south toward the swim route.

Lady Liberty and Martin

On the way, we stop by the Statue of Liberty so that Martin can take a dip.

Then to the Verrazano Bridge, where we decide that on event day, we would shoot for as far west of the Brooklyn stanchion as possible without entering the shipping channel.

Jason, Emeka, Dan, Martin, Verrazano

(It is interesting to note that Rose’s coach claims that she covered 25 miles during her Aug. 13th swim. I think that she must have gone much closer to the Staten Island shore than we are planning to.)

From the Verrazano, we get our first glimpse of the space ship shaped top of the parachute jump, blinking in the distance.

We round Norton’s Point, head over to Steeplechase Pier, and pause to watch the jet skiiers with an obvious death wish.

East River Storm

Then we head back north, toward Lady Liberty (rain on the horizon…by Newark, we figure), through Buttermilk Channel, hugging the Brooklyn shoreline per our swim plan.

As we go up the East River, under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, just past the Williamsburg, the heavens open, and we are caught right in the middle of some of the worst weather that Captain Dan has seen in this area, ever.

We are forced to turn around at Corlears Hook (planned point for crossing the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn during swim), and so are unable to make it up to East 26th Street start point.

At first we take this as a bad omen…but then we turn around and see this:

From our point of view, the rainbow crosses the East River at exactly the same point that the swimmers will cross on event day.

Now we know the Gods are with us. :)

Rose’s Coach, William J. Curran, kept a notebook which included stories, details, and praises of Rose, her records, and her swims.

Thanks to Rose’s granddaughter Sandy, we have a reproduction of several of the pages from this book.

Excerpted here are a drawing depicting several of Rose’s achievements, and a toast:

The Rose Pitonof Centennial Swim was mentioned in last Sunday’s NYTimes as part of the open-water swimming renaissance.

“In August, six competitors will try a 17-mile swim from the shores of Kips Bay in Manhattan to Coney Island in Brooklyn, a route that 17-year-old Rose Pitonof breast-stroked 100 years ago, to the cheers of 50,000 spectators, according to news coverage at the time. Deanne Draeger, the organizer of this year’s event, swam the course solo last year.”

Read the article.