greg elliot bagpipe player fountain valley ca

Greg elliot bagpipe player fountain valley ca professional#

He looks up and thinks: “Too close.”Īt first it appears he’ll pass in front of the 100,000 gross tons of cargo-laden ship. And at this moment, the largest container ship Farrier has ever seen – three football fields long – bearing down on him.įarrier hears it first – underwater engines churning louder. The current accelerates as it whips around Point Vicente in Palos Verdes. The last few miles of the swim from Catalina to the mainland are the toughest.

Says Farrier: “It was on, dude… There was a reason to do it.” When he told Evan Cousineau’s mom that he was considering a channel swim, she stopped him cold: “This kid could’ve been me,” Farrier says of the news photo staring back at him: a tiny swimmer, a water polo player a blond-haired San Clemente kid who called T-Street beach home.įarrier called the family in tears and offered to help. He read about a 9-year-old boy who’d died of adrenoleukodystrophy – a genetic disorder that robbed his sight and hearing before deteriorating all brain function.

He asked himself: What should I do? And he made that question into a prayer.Īn answer arrived in the local newspaper. Last April, after the shoulder pains, the local shark attack and the lost job, Farrier stopped training for 10 days. The father and son are the reason Farrier is even in the water. Their presence is almost as incandescent as the new sun. His 13-year-old son stands nearby in trunks, ready to take his turn as the next pace swimmer. The loudest of the screams is a man leaning over the stern, a man Farrier met just three months ago: “Here comes the day, bay-bee!” he bellows. Others thwack cheer sticks, grin goofy grins and hold signs reading, “I CAN,” and “YOU WILL DO THIS.” “Good morning,” hollers Farrier’s best friend, Troy Simington. Every second at rest is a second closer to hypothermia. Even his feedings must be chugged in motion. Bagpipes!įarrier is not supposed to stop for anything. There, on the top deck of The Bottom Scratcher, stands the boat’s captain. “If it hurts this much now,” he is thinking, “how can I do this another five hours?”Īnd that’s when the first light of day spills over the horizon and a strange new sound stops him in his tracks. His body has depleted the easy energy stores and is scavenging for more. He’s now into what are called the doldrums, or the dark period every channel swimmer faces. The pre-dawn light can’t come fast enough. This time, however, whatever is at Farrier’s heels disappears. He’s thinking mako – the fastest shark in the ocean and much more likely to attack from behind. Elliott’s radar now places Farrier, out there splashing in the dark.įarrier, however, is not thinking great white. The photo was taken 10 miles off the coast of Long Beach – almost exactly where Capt. He yells to a kayaker to drop back and take a look.Įighteen hours earlier, another crew on another boat snapped a photo of a 14-foot great white shark. In the night.įarrier feels it nudge his feet. His arms might as well be attached to cinderblocks.Īnd as Livesay jumps in, Farrier sees his eyes go wide.

Invited family and friends going back to childhood.īy the time Bill Livesay stands on deck of the boat that’s next to Farrier on this trip, ready to take his turn as Farrier’s pace swimmer, Farrier has vomited 15 times. Gathered the best support team in Southern California. The swim was guided by Bottom Scratcher with captain Greg Elliot, Craig and Danny.Today, right now, in the dark, in the middle of the ocean, Farrier is finding out what kind of man he is – the one who quits or the one who swims. The Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association observers were Lynn Kubasek and Jax Cole. Escort kayakers and support crew included Allen Ball, Jill Ball, Bob Howell, Patty Howell, Pam Jirkowsky and Carol Lacy. Coached by Theo Schmeeckle, the team comprised of Zach Jirkovsky, Jim McConica, John Chung, Stacey Warmuth, Tom Ball and Tamie Stewart. The Deep Enders relay swam from San Nicolas Island to San Pedro, California on 12-13 October 2015 on an unprecedented 112.8 km crossing of 33 hours 37 minutes 26 seconds. Ventura Deep Enders from San Nicholas Island to San PedroĬourtesy of Lynn Kubasek of the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association He escorted The Deep Enders on their unprecedented relay from San Nicolas Island to the California mainland in October 2015 over 33 hours 37 minutes. He is known for playing his bagpipes as his channel swimmers are nearing land. He has escorted dozens of successful channel swimmers between Santa Catalina Island and the Southern California coast on his escort boat, the Bottom Scratcher and remains active with the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation community.

Greg elliot bagpipe player fountain valley ca professional#

Greg Elliot is a Professional Navigator and escort pilot for the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation. Just Keep Swimming piloted by Greg Elliot