Merced-area swimmers take on Alcatraz

It began with a Rob Strickland bucket list item.

The Atwater High School and Merced College alumnus wished to participate in the 23rd annual Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim without a wet suit. And he wanted some friends along for the experience.

Strickland put the word out, and a group of 11 former prep and college stars from the Merced and Atwater areas (Strickland, Steve Crass, Steve Eccles, Gene Dahle, Jim Brown, Eric Hamm, Kit Grattan, Clark Bird, Dan McIlhatton, Mike Carpenter and Bob Nutcher) braved the frigid San Francisco Bay water Saturday morning, swimming from the famed former prison to the mainland. The race consists of 800 participants, but only 163 decided to go sans swimsuit.

The locals more than held their own, with five of the 11 earning medals (Bird, Strickland, Dahle, Brown and Grattan) in their age divisions, nine placing in the top 10 and Strickland and Brown winning their divisions. Bird placed second in his age group and finished fifth overall in the non-wet-suit division with a time of 32 minutes, 7 seconds.

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Merced-area swimmers take on Alcatraz."