Los Banos 9-year-old eyes world record in Alcatraz swim

Mercey Springs Elementary fourth-grader James Savage beat a heavy favorite to win a swim meet in Clovis last weekend.

“The Clovis boy’s friend was just yelling at him, ‘Savage beat you. And he’s so small,’ ” James’ mother, Jillian Savage said.

James’ smile grew wide as his mother recalled the swim meet.

“It makes me laugh,” James said. “They think I’m so slow, then they’re surprised.”

James, at 4 feet, 6 inches and 57 pounds, is a soft-spoken boy. But as he swam lap after lap Wednesday during swim practice at the Pacheco High School pool, his methodical and competitive spirit showed.

James swims about six hours each day as he prepares to take on a world record.

At 7 a.m. on June 14, 9-year-old James will attempt to become the youngest person to swim a “touch and go” from the San Francisco Aquatic Park to Alcatraz island and back, breaking a Guinness world record set by then-10-year-old Sunnyvale native Anaya Khanzodé last year.

He’ll face a three-mile swim in the San Francisco Bay currents. But the Mercey Springs student has some experience with open water swims.

James completed one leg of the journey last year during the 35th annual Escape from the Rock race. Recently, he also completed a swim from San Diego to Coronado Island.

But a touch-and-go swim to Alcatraz is a different challenge. To prepare, James and his coach, Josh Weinberger, don’t just train at the school pool. They head to the Los Banos reservoir and swim near the detention dam.

Weinberger, a head coach for the Los Banos Skimmers who will be swimming alongside James on the record-setting journey, said he has seen great swimmers come through the program. But he hasn’t seen anyone with as much interest in tough open water swims as James.

“It’s his personality,” Weinberger said. “There is no limit in his mind, no barriers.”

When Weinberger first heard that James wanted to complete an open swim achievement, he thought it would be a lake or river. But he was surprised when he heard it was the ocean waters.

“He takes to technique very well,” Weinberger said. “I see things in him that I don’t see in adult swimmers.”

James got the idea to swim to Alcatraz and back after his mother told him about the world record.

“I want to do that, too,” James said.

Savage said James’ record-breaking attempt makes her nervous. But she said it was important to support James in his interests, whether it be buying him that expensive wetsuit he needs to stay warm or floating on a kayak to watch while he trains.

And for James, there is no fear, just anticipation.

“The hard part (will be) mostly the waves while I’m swimming,” James said. “But right now it’s mostly training.”

That training hasn’t prepared James only for the Alcatraz swim, it’s also helped him become a better overall swimmer. For example, since he started training, he shaved 17 seconds off his 200-meter individual medley time.

James said his love for swimming started several years ago through his older brother, Tyler. While his brother doesn’t swim competitively anymore, James has found a way to surprise people while striving continuously for more challenges.

After the Alcatraz swim, James said he wants to complete tough swims around the world. For him, swimming is life.

“He doesn’t know how to play in the pool,” Savage said. “He just wants to swim.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Los Banos 9-year-old eyes world record in Alcatraz swim."