Bioletics recognizes Patti Bauernfeind of Pleasanton, California, for her attempt at completing a 23-mile solo swim from Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz to Del Monte Beach in Monterey on August 21st.

To date, five people have attempted the Monterey Bay Swim.  Two have finished—Cindy Cleveland (swimming it in 17 hours) in 1983 and Bruckner Chase (finishing in 14 hours) this year. While Chase stopped 30 minutes into the swim to put on a wetsuit for protection against the cold, jellyfish-infested waters, Bauernfeind adhered strictly to English Channel rules; she wore only a swim suit, cap and goggles for the duration of the event

Patti was swimming at record pace until the stings of needle jellyfish caused her to loose feeling in both legs and one arm approximately 12 miles into the swim. At this point, she became hypothermic and was forced out of the water. She remains committed to completing the swim and plans to make another attempt in October, when jellyfish populations are expected to be smaller. Her motivation?  In large part, raising funds to build schools in Afghanistan.

Bauernfiend, who set an open-water world record by swimming the length of Lake Tahoe (22 miles) in 2009, came to Bioletics for help in early 2010 because she was having recovery issues and couldn’t train as consistently as she wanted. Because Patti’s sights were set on completing the 100 top-ranked open water swims, she instinctively knew that more yards in the pool weren’t going to get her where she wanted to go. She knew that she needed to investigate what was happening (or not happening) inside her body at a basic, biological level.

Patti completed the Elite Performance Profile and discovered that her vitamin D, Essential Fatty Acid and Essential Amino Acid levels were all low. She was overly acidic and eating foods that were not metabolically correct for her body. After making some significant dietary changes and giving her body the targeted nutrients it needed, Patti soon felt the effects. She began to recover more rapidly and more fully. Her speed and endurance both improved. She shed several pounds of body fat and looked and felt better than she had in years. Patti plans to continue working with Bioletics for as long as she remains a competitive swimmer, which could be for a very, very long time!  

To learn more about Patti, her fundraising work with Empower Through Education and her upcoming open-water swims, visit www.ikeepswimming.com.