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Walter Poenisch: Lost At Sea. The First Person to Swim from Cuba To Florida!
DanSimonelli
San Diego CASenior Member
After reading this article, I felt like creating its own Discussion, just to honor the memory and life of Walter Poenisch!
Walter Poenisch: Lost At Sea. The First Person to Swim from Cuba To Florida!
http://614columbus.com/article/5998/1380303188/
Walter Poenisch: Lost At Sea. The First Person to Swim from Cuba To Florida!
http://614columbus.com/article/5998/1380303188/
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Comments
Love too, @Niek the actual physical suit and attire. My suits never last that long...
Now I understand why DN hasn't reproduced the actual observer reports and the rules applied to the swim, it's just too difficult. Just look at how long it took the observer logs to make it to this website. (SARC INT)
I'll be happy to pay for the copy of "Driven" (and the card) if someone else will write it and send it - my handwriting is beyond illegible and even I can't read it most of the time.
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Dick Mullins, an International Swimming Hall of Fame representative, who accompanied Diana Nyad on her swim, (and referred to Walter as a "known fraud") was mad at Walter over a salary dispute that occurred 4 years earlier when he (Dick Mullins) was the publicist for Walter.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SJ9jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q-sFAAAAIBAJ&pg=939,3057680&dq=walter+poenisch+swims+from+cuba+to+florida&hl=en
Also, his widow wrote a book manuscript about the Swim 4 Peace, but then set it aside during the furor following the swim. She is hoping, with the infamous Nyad bringing this swim into the light, now might be the time to get the book going. You can sign up for email updates here: http://www.swim4peace.com/
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
http://openwaterpedia.com/index.php?title=Walter_Poenisch
Also a Steve Munatones post from today here:
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2013/10/swimming-conditions-in-straits-of.html?m=1
(Both incorrectly list Walter's age as 68 at the time of the swim, rather than 65)
I happened to be privy to a backstory contradicting that claim, and I said so. Steve then acknowledged that backstory, and modified his claim, saying: "My lack of writing about Walter has nothing to do whatsoever with Diana Nyad" - which, as far as I know, nobody alleged in the first place.
Re: Steve's article in the DNOWS, "Swimming Conditions in the Straits of Florida," linked above by @vvise. The wording of the opening sentence -- "In a preliminary investigation of what is allowed and what is not allowed in solo swims across the Straits of Florida, we found the information below" -- is interesting given that Steve himself wrote the rules for Diana's 2011 attempt. It is not clear whether these same rules were in effect for her 2013 swim.
Walter's wife's narrative has become challenging to find. I post it here for posterity.
https://web.archive.org/web/20131005095333/http://614columbus.com/article/5998/1380303188
@Niek, weren't you in contact with Walter's widow? Perhaps she has a copy of the original article? I'm sure MSF can find a place on its servers for any Walter Poenisch-related artifacts!
She has written a book. Last I heard, it was submitted to a publisher.
Might also be worth getting in touch with the author, Lori Gum. Wouldn't be surprised if Nyad big city lawyers made threats, and 614Columbus decided it wasn't worth the fight.
I have some recent info from Faye that I will update here after talking with her.
Hurray! Thanks for following up @Niek. Sending good vibes to Faye. Would love to read her book.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Thanks @Niek for saving the text of Lori Gum's great article about Walter Poenisch from the now-defunct 614 Magazine in Columbus. I recently came across a PDF of the original magazine-format of the article, and put it up on Dropbox:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/105083/MSF/Poenisch_Lost_At_Sea.pdf
My 2nd reading of this GREAT article by Lori Gum. Wow. Thanks. RLM
Walter Poenisch would have been 106 today. Happy birthday and RIP, sir.
https://blogs.marathonswimmers.org/ironmike/2013/10/05/walter-poenisch-the-first-to-swim-cuba-to-florida-assisted/
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams