In 2008, American Steve Munatones conjured up an idea we would come to know as Oceans Seven!
24 hours ago we were told he is visiting Hawaii, and may swim with his old mates at the Alamoana Swim Squad's Sunday outing!
Sleep in? Not a chance!!!
We met the team at 6:45am, expecting a 'toes in' at 7:00am.
No chance...
0720- we're all still chatting with no sign of lycra, a silicon cap or a pair of goggles. Aloha...it's Hawaii o'clock'.
0725- Steve wanders along. I try to look cool. I don't want to rush up and overwhelm the man that has been responsible for the obsession that has become the last 5 years of my life!
0740- We're off! I'm shore side and ready to go and still draining Steve for every ounce of information.
As we head out along the Waikiki coast, I know the squad plan a 5km swim. I'll just do 3km, so ~1.5km out. The phone could go any time with a 'we go today' from Captain Mike.
Getting to the turnaround, I thank the team for the warm welcome.
Steve then says, 'I'll head back with you so that you don't get lost'.
I then had the pleasure of a start-stop swim all the way back to shore. Steve signalled me to stop a number of times sharing morsels of valuable information and advice as it came to mind.
'Callum, this isn't a channel. It's 2 dots that are Islands in the middle of a massive ocean. You really are at sea'.
What an amazing experience! Priceless.
On reaching shore, he continued to make time for my crew, reinforcing how important the swim was for them too.
'Pace yourselves. He'll need you more than ever in the last 1/3.'
It's easy to understand why Open Water Swimming(OWS) is so lucky to have Steve Munatones. What a lovely man.
Steve, thank you so much for all you do for this sport.
Wow. What a day.
Life really is a script that writes itself.
Still....we wait. It continues to blow a gusty onshore 30+ knots/hr.
