Readers love young swimmer James Savage, and some mystery photos are claimed

James Savage swam from San Francisco to Alcatraz Island and back in June, hoping to be the youngest person to complete the swim at the age of 9.

Sun-Star readers loved the story. They loved it so much that it beat out 10 other stories in a survey seeking the “reader’s choice” story of 2016.

James’ achievement still awaits confirmation from the Guiness Book of World Records, but the Mercey Springs Elementary fifth-grader gained fame for his “touch-and-go” swim.

At 4 feet, 6 inches and about 60 pounds, James is an unassumingly accomplished swimmer in Los Banos.

James told the Merced Sun-Star and Los Banos Enterprise about the self-motivated June 14 swim and his training for it. After the story broke, national news picked it up and his swim was live-streamed.

James finished the swim in a little more than two hours.

He received recognition from the Los Banos City Council for his effort and later was invited to be featured as a special guest at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s new circus production Aug. 25 in San Jose.

James successfully set another age-based record, the youngest to complete the “bridge-to-bridge” 6.2-mile swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge, on Dec. 10, said his mother, Jillian Savage.

Savage said James’ next goal is to swim the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, something he might attempt this spring.

Now, James can add Sun-Star “reader’s choice” to his list of accomplishments.

In other news:

Readers have been trickling in to the Sun-Star office to claim mystery photos submitted in the past.

A co-worker and I found the photos a few weeks back while tidying up, and I asked readers to come claim the photos and share the stories behind them.

One of those readers was Amelia Pira.

Pira, 87, said her phone began ringing at 8 a.m. on a Monday morning. Her girlfriends from the country club were calling to tell her that her wedding photo was published in the newspaper.

She and her husband, Jack Pira, have been married 68 years. Jack, 95, lives in a convalescent home.

Amelia Pira said she thinks her mother-in-law submitted the wedding photo to the Sun-Star for an anniversary announcement or to be published in the society section.

When she and Jack married, Amelia was 19 and Jack was 27.

She bought her wedding dress off a sale rack for $125 after saving her money while working in the tomato shed over the summer. Four other relatives ended up also wearing the dress in their weddings, she said.

Pira visited the Sun-Star office, bringing her stunning wedding portraits of her wearing that same dress.

I’m glad the mystery photo is back with its rightful owner.

Merced resident Mary Brooks also was able to identify many of the old photos of veterans. One of the portraits was of a young Tony Soria, who has served as the Grand Marshal of the Merced Veterans Day parade. Soria, a World War II Navy veteran, still fits into his U.S. Navy dress uniform.

Please feel free to stop by the Sun-Star office and look through the box of photos if you believe one may be here.

This story was originally published January 4, 2017 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Readers love young swimmer James Savage, and some mystery photos are claimed."