Swimming Cook Inlet | Outdoor Explorer

A group of people pose with two swimmers exiting the ocean.
Shannon Titzel and Jordan Iverson with the Boat Boys support crew after completing their swim. (Courtesy of Shannon Titzel)

This episode features Jordan Iverson and Shannon Titzel. In June, Jordan completed the Triple Crown of Swimming, a challenge that includes three iconic swims: the English Channel, the Catalina Channel and the Swim around Manhattan. Only 333 people in the world have completed the Triple Crown, and Jordan did all three swims in a year, becoming the second Alaskan to finish the challenge. Meanwhile, her friend Shannon had been eying a swim across Cook Inlet, from Point MacKenzie to the Anchorage Small Boat Harbor. The distance straight across is three miles, but due to currents, the route is six miles. It wasn’t hard for Shannon to convince Jordan to join her on this historic swim. The swim had been completed only once before by Bob Kaufman and Chris Hodel, although the pair had been in wetsuits. To be considered an official open swim by the governing body, it would have to be in swimsuits only.


HOST: Lisa Keller

GUESTS:
Jordan Iverson and Shannon Titzel, open water swimmers

LINKS:
Triple Crown of Swimming
“This Anchorage nurse just became the first Alaska woman to complete the grueling ‘Triple Crown’ of swimming” Alaska Public Media

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