Harald Johnson Testimonial

Harald Johnson: Winner Manhattan Island Marathon Swim Founding Executive Director of US Triathlon Cofounder Triathlete Magazine Swimmer, Triathlete, Surfer, Free Diver

I had worked out with SLIM FINS prior to the race to increase my ankle flexibility and build leg strength and aerobic capacity, and now I wished I could have strapped them on. In fact, I started fantasizing that I was powering my way through the current with my fins, streamlining my body and lifting myself completely out of the water with each strong kick."

We were swimming with a three-knot current and really flying down the Hudson River, I took the race lead after passing under the George Washington Bridge. Soon, the World Trade Center towers loomed up on the left, and as I lifted my head to navigate, I could just make out the shape of the Statue of Liberty in the distance. The race was more than six hours old when I reached Battery Park at the southern end of the island, and I should have been elated with the prospect of the final turn to the finish line. Instead, I hit a four-knot ebbing tidal current head on. I was swimming as hard as I could and not moving an inch. As I struggled to make headway, I could see the other swimmers' boats coming up from behind.

We were piling up against the outgoing tide, and as I fought against the current, I thought about my slim fins sitting in the boat only 10 feet away. I had worked out with slim fins prior to the race to increase my ankle flexibility and build leg strength and aerobic capacity, and now I wished I could have strapped them on. In fact, I started fantasizing that I was powering my way through the current with my fins, streamlining my body and lifting myself completely out of the water with each strong kick. When I came back to the present, the tide slackened and eventually turned, and I sprinted the final three miles up the East River to the finish line.

---Harald Johnson