Jason Pipoly, Paraplegic Endurance Swimmer, Attempts to Become First to Swim 40 Miles...

Jason Pipoly, Paraplegic Endurance Swimmer, Attempts to Become First to Swim
40 Miles Down Hood Canal
First American paraplegic to swim English Channel and Catalina Channel hopes
to add Hood Canal to list of accomplishments

QUILCENE, Wash., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Five years after becoming the
first paraplegic to cross the Catalina Channel, 37-year-old Jason Pipoly is at
it again, this time in Puget Sound. Pipoly, who has no feeling from the chest
down, will attempt to be the first person to swim the Hood Canal, 40 miles
down a glacier-formed, saltwater fjord and nearly twice the distance of
Pipoly's Catalina crossing. He is scheduled to leave from Quilcene Bay Marina
at 7 a.m. on August 30 and will attempt to finish some 24 hours later on the
south shore of Hood Canal in Union, Washington, at the Alderbrook Resort
Marina.
A San Antonio resident, Pipoly became the youngest person to attempt to
swim across the English Channel in 1982. He was just 11 years old. He fell
four miles short after swimming 17 miles in whitecap, rough waters for eight
hours. Paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident in 1998, Pipoly
returned to the English Channel in 2002 and became the first American
paraplegic -- and the second paraplegic in the world -- to successfully swim
the 21-mile course. The following year, after 24 hours of fighting high
winds, strong currents and cold water, Pipoly became the first paraplegic to
swim 21 miles from Los Angeles Harbor to Catalina Island, pushing his body
past perceived limitations to accomplish what had never been done before.
His goal: to encourage others who face similar challenges in life and
show that they can move beyond whatever limitations they think may be in front
of them to accomplish their dreams.
Be inspired. A documentary film crew accompanying him on the swim posted
this trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOFzNf4h_KU.
SOURCE Jason Pipoly

documentary film crew director onsite in Quilcene, Hans Rosenwinkel,
+1-303-478-5088; or agency, Debi Pfitzenmaier, +1-210-669-6911,
debi@pfitzpr.com, both for Jason Pipoly, or Jason Pipoly, +1-210-542-7761