Local principal swims from Alcatraz Island to the mainland

May 19—Significant waves, chilly water and sharks couldn't stop Ben Hunt from achieving his goal of swimming from Alcatraz Island, the site of the famous prison, to the San Francisco mainland.

"There are sharks, but a Great White hasn't been spotted in decades, so they are 'friendly sharks,' like leopard sharks, and (while cold water) usually takes my breath away, I took off immediately (once I hit the water because) of the adrenaline," said Hunt, principal of Eastside Elementary School. "I underestimated the current, (because) there was no way I could simulate it," and it was so strong that day his guide said she would've canceled a group swim, but allowed him to proceed alone.

"It was pretty rough, and a few times I was thinking about calling it a day (because of the current), but my pride wouldn't let me with my friends and family there," he said. "I couldn't quit with them there, so I just focused on getting" to shore.

Hunt had support in San Francisco for his swim last summer not only from his wife Alison, sons Andrew and Will, and in-laws, but from several friends and members of the staff at Eastside, such as Holly Jones, the school's media specialist.

"It was amazing, but also scary, (at least) for us," Jones said. "It just seemed like such a long, long way, it was so cold that day, and the water was very rough."

His friends and family "were definitely my cheerleaders," Hunt said. "My wife is very supportive of me — she was worried, but she never told me until afterward — and I hope (Andrew and Will) will want to do something similar some day."

Hunt took inspiration from his grandfather, who hiked the Appalachian Trail, he said.

"He set a goal and did it over several years."

Hunt began swimming nearly a decade ago, and "I try to do a mile or two every time I go," which is two to three times a week, he said. "It's solitary exercise" — he listens to music while swimming — "and a good way to re-center, decompress and think," because "it's just you and the water."

"I like a challenge, and I always want to have a goal," so when he decided several years ago to visit one of his favorite cities with his family, he thought about swimming from Alcatraz to the mainland, he said. "I thought 'Is this even a thing?' I did some research, and it is a thing people do."

He spent approximately 18 months preparing for the 1.8-mile swim, including swimming in Tennessee's Chickamauga Lake and Norris Lake to prepare for the cooler temperatures of open water, he said. However, a water temperature of 59 degrees when he made his California swim was colder than he expected, and lake swimming couldn't come close to approximating the current he faced in San Francisco.

He also unwisely depleted his energy the day before his swim, he recalled with a chuckle.

"Every time we go out there, we take a bike ride from San Francisco to Sausalito, and we didn't want the in-laws to miss that, but it probably was not the best timing."

His guide told him where to swim and what sights to swim toward.

"You might think 'water is water,' but, no," he said. "The water depth there can go from 20 to 30 feet to several hundred feet in a few yards, and as I was swimming, the current pushed me diagonally west," so he ultimately came ashore at the San Francisco Yacht Club.

His wife, who was in a boat following him with his guide — the latter shouted instructions to him on a bullhorn — spotted a pair of porpoises and a sea lion swimming near him, he said. "They were either good luck or shark bait" — evidently the former, as he reached shore unscathed.

When he finished, "it felt like a weight off my shoulders, because I'd been training for this for 18 months, but it didn't really hit me until a few hours later," he said. "When it settled down, I thought 'I really did this."

Hunt continues to swim regularly, but his next goal is outside of the pool.

"I'd like to learn Spanish, which is a little more helpful and applicable in Dalton" than ocean swimming, he said with a smile. "I always look at what's next — everybody needs something."