2 to try swim at Key West

Motives differ for Nancy Haynsworth, Eric Ruckel

David Quick
The Post and Courier

Eric Ruckel of Mount Pleasant and Nancy Haynsworth of Goose Creek plan to compete in the 12.5-mile swim around Key West on Saturday.

In the fall of 2005, I heard that one of my friendly running rivals, Eric Ruckel, had "bone-on-bone" osteoarthritis in his left knee, and that his doctor told him he would have to stop running. I wondered how he would handle it.

Eric, now 43, is rabid about endurance sports, competition, self-improvement and, frankly, life. Among his peers, he's generous with compliments and encouragement. His humor lightens the often serious atmosphere of workouts. His positive energy radiates.

All that said, I was still blown away last winter when I heard he planned to participate in the 32nd annual Swim Around Key West, a 12.5-mile open-water swim that circumnavigates the southernmost tip of the continental United States. The swim takes place Saturday.

As an avid and top local triathlete, Eric has been a regular at masters swim workouts at the Martin Luther King Jr. pool for years. But he was a swimmer of the triathlete variety. He himself jokes he is among the few "nonswimmers" in workouts that include a former Olympian, collegiate swimmers, and world and national age group record holders.

In the world of swimming, the Key West swim is comparable to running two marathons back-to-back — on a hot day. In June, the water temperature at Key West ranges from 85 to 90 degrees, and many swimmers coat themselves in zinc oxide to keep from burning from the intense South Florida sunlight. As if that's not bad enough, the last two miles are notorious for jellyfish and other stinging critters.

The endeavor started back in January when Eric heard two swimming friends saying they were planning on doing Key West. When Eric asked about doing a relay, he recalls one of them saying, "We don't do no stinking relays." Eric wondered aloud about the expenses, timing and logistics, but told the couple that he was going to think about it over the weekend and tell them whether he was in or not.

The wheels started spinning. Eric's wife, Unhwa, gave her cautious approval. Eric was in.

But when he told the couple, they were out for the reasons Eric first raised, expenses, timing and logistics. It turned out that it didn't matter. Eric had made up his mind, and he had other company anyway. Another masters swimmer, Nancy Haynsworth, was looking for another physical challenge after a few years of competing in bodybuilding contests.

Haynsworth, the aquatics and fitness director at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station, likes to give herself one major fitness challenge every year of her life, and this one will happen on her 51st birthday.

Eric and Nancy also had another ace in the hole: Kathleen Wilson, the most accomplished ultraswimmer in the history of the Palmetto State who not only offered advice but trained with them. Wilson, also a harpist for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and a Charleston city councilwoman, plans to swim the Strait of Gibraltar, one way or two ways, in late July.

Both Wilson and Chris Rowe, a coach of Charleston's Southern Marlins Racing Team, gave Eric and Nancy their blessing, given the two swimmers' athletic backgrounds and proven tenacity. Wilson, however, is quick to note that most people should attempt "shorter" open-water swims, distances of five miles or less, before attempting something as grueling as Key West.

"It (open water) is a stressful environment. It's not something to flirt with," says Wilson, adding that Key West is considered a "starter" ultra swim because it is warmer and more shallow than most.

Eric and Nancy started slowly building daily distances — 3,000 meters, 4,000 meters, 8,000 meters. Eventually, a week's schedule included 7,000 meters on Tuesdays, 8,000 meters on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and then 9,000 to 10,000 meters — the distance of the Cooper River Bridge Run — on Saturday mornings. Weekly mileage peaked out at 40,000 meters, or about 25 miles of swimming.

They both said the hardest part of the training was getting up at 4:40 a.m. to get to the pool in time to put in the distance before work. At one point, Eric couldn't squeeze in anymore mileage during the week, and his boss at Behr truck parts manufacturer gave him an extra hour.

Typical of Eric, he was a ringleader of open-water swimming sessions on the Isle of Palms this spring, inviting other swimmers and triathletes to join him and Nancy for half-mile ocean intervals. His 15-year-old son, Ethan, a Wando High School runner, served as kayak support crew. He nicknamed the group the COWS, Charleston Open Water Swimmers.

Eric, who had run four marathons, says training for an ultraswim is different from a marathon in a couple of respects. In running, long runs range from 20 to 22 miles, which is close to the race distance of 26.2 miles. In training for Key West, the longest swims were 6.2 miles — half of the distance of the swim.

That concerned Eric, but the effect of the swimming was more cumulative through the week. By the time they had to swim a 10K on Saturday, they already had logged about 19 miles on the four preceding days, and they were dog-tired before even starting the three-hour workout.

Eric also said the fatigue of marathon training differs from that of swimming. The former is more of a muscular fatigue of the legs, hips and joints, while the latter is more cardiovascular and an overall tiredness.

Ultimately, I knew what was driving Eric. He said it himself.

"I can't run, so I swim," says Eric, without my prompting. "I always tell Ethan two things: Life's not fair, and make the best of it. What am I going to do — give up because I can't run. ... Giving up is not an option."

Reach David Quick at 937-5516 or dquick@postandcourier.com.