From http://www.hometownannapolis.com June 6, 2003

Blind swimmer among 600 in annual bay swim
By ERIC COLLINS Staff Writer

He's tackled some of the toughest swims around the world - crossing the English Channel, swimming almost 30 miles around Manhattan, fighting 7-foot swells in the Indian Ocean and dodging tankers in the Mediterranean.

You'd think James Pittar would be confident about his chances to complete a measly 4.4 miles across the Chesapeake Bay on Sunday.

But more than seven years of marathon swims have taught the blind athlete that luck and the right weather conditions count more than experience.

"A lot of things can go wrong in 4.4 miles of swimming," the modest 33-year-old Australian said yesterday while visiting Annapolis.

He's one of 600 people expected to take the plunge during the 12th annual Great Chesapeake Bay Swim. Though Mr. Pittar's finish would mark the first time a blind athlete has completed the challenge, plenty of other people with disabilities have gone before him, said Chuck Nabit, the race director.

The event raises money for the Maryland chapter of the March of Dimes, among other causes, and attracts swimmers from across the country and the world.

This year, racers could face the lowest water temperature in the history of the event. As of this morning, the water at Thomas Point was a nippy 62.4 degrees, and officials with the local National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration office don't expect it to climb much higher than 65 at best on race day.

So far the lowest temperature for the race - about 63 degrees - occurred in 1997, when officials had to pull out 110 racers, about 80 more than normal, because of the cold, Mr. Nabit said. Organizers are preparing to deal with more cases of potential hypothermia this year, he said.

"You are going to get colder faster," he said.

For Mr. Pittar, the start at Sandy Point State Park could be more interesting than the finish on Kent Island. The 6-foot-3-inch man with deep
blue eyes and a slight paunch isn't used to swimming in large packs, and expects a few bumps and bruises.

"It could be quite interesting," he said.

Mr. Pittar tackles most of his endurance swims with only a small team of people to guide and feed him. On Sunday a friend will paddle beside him on a sea kayak, blowing a whistle once to have him veer left, twice for right. Three long blasts signal "Shark!" - but he's not expecting to hear that one.

The Sydney resident began losing his sight at 14 due to an eye disease that destroys the retina. His father loved swimming, and Mr. Pittar began competing against other blind swimmers as a 20-year-old.

He was quickly drawn to the longer distances, partly because of his lack of speed but also for the mental challenge.

After encouragement from his coach, he decided to pursue a dream he kept silent: crossing the English Channel. After a year of training, and a blessing from the weather gods, he finished the Mount Everest of endurance swims in 13 hours and 50 minutes in July 1998.

Other firsts followed: swims around Manhattan Island and across the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco. At times he's felt despair, pounded by wave after wave, unable to see them strike, winds fighting him, his stroke constantly altered, just a whistle to keep him right. But he finds it exhilarating, his team members doing all the thinking, leaving him to become a machine.

"Open water swimming is really free to me," he said. "I don't have to worry about what's going on ... I just keep swimming."---

ecollins@capitalgazette.com