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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. (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

Lisa Keller was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. She was 8 years old when Title IX passed and was fortunate to have parents who encouraged activity and to live in a progressive and encouraging community for girls and women in sports. She played baseball and soccer, downhill skied at Arctic Valley, learned to swim at The Spa, hiked the Chugach, and ran the Anchorage tracks and trails. She headed to University of Oregon, Eugene, and played soccer until she discovered the new sport of triathlon. After earning a degree in Political Science, she quickly fell back on her life as an athlete and began a career in fitness and coaching. She is a past winner of the Gold Nugget Triathlon and the Eagle River Triathlon, as well as many smaller triathlons and running races. She is a two-time Alaska Triathlete of the Year and has achieved All-American status in USA Triathlon age group rankings. She is one of the founding board members of the Alaska Run for Women. In 2002 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and since then has won the survivor division of the run many times. She owns Multisport Training of Alaska, providing coaching for Alaska triathletes, and is the General Manager of Running Free Alaska, an organization that brings run workouts and races to the women prisoners at Hiland prison.