Menlo News August 26, 2018

More ’20 crosses Tahoe, sets marathon swim record

Knights swimmer youngest to complete Triple Crown
Knights junior Angel More swims Lake Tahoe on Saturday, the last leg of the Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming.

Menlo junior Angel More has become the youngest to complete the Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming after emerging from the water and climbing to the sand of Lake Tahoe on Saturday.

All the while, getting up at 3:30 a.m. to simulate night training once a week, swimming alongside sharks, fighting currents and fatigue, More has a bigger motivation. More is dedicated to helping break the cycle of poverty, starting with youth, through Children International, a nonprofit her family has long supported.

On Saturday just after noon, wrapped up the Tahoe portion of the swim - a 21.3-mile trek across the lengthwise axis. More entered the water Friday night to try to avoid some of the high winds that are prevalent in the afternoon and finished on Saturday. In August 2017, she swam the 12.2 miles of the Santa Barbara channel, then this past June, swam 20 miles to Catalina.  

Each site brings different challenges, and while More swam with whales and sharks in open water (“sea life scares me”), she faced lack of buoyancy in the fresh water and the longest distance of the triple crown (“when I thought I had a mile left, I actually had three”) in Tahoe.

“I was a little sore Saturday, but I stretched and I feel fine for school,” More said Sunday.

“During Catalina, the waters were choppy and there were some intense waves, so my legs were cramping,” she said. “In Tahoe, the water was a little more relaxed, but as soon as I got out, I was so tired climbing on the sand.

“When I got to shore, I was super relieved,” More said about the 15.5-hour swim. “It took a few minutes to process, but I felt  really good about what I accomplished.”

The 15-year-old already has reached the podium of triathlons, open-water swims and cycling races. At age 10, she became the youngest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. She started swimming with her club team at 5,  and when she was 11, More’s coach invited the team to swim Alcatraz with her.

More was the lone taker, and she was hooked.  

“I was always in swimming from baby and mom classes, but when it came to competitive swimming, I wasn’t as fast, so I tried the 500 free and I really enjoyed it,” More said. “The first time when I swam Alcatraz, I loved it. You’re in the ocean, there are no lane lines,and every time, practice was an adventure.”  

During the swims, More has a crew which mans shifts on a boat, on a kayak and on land, as well as observers from the swim federation to validate the swimmer’s feats.  They ensure More is healthy to keep swimming, is fueled (every half-hour energy smoothies, every hour energy gel,banana and smoothie) and while they cannot touch her or help her, a pace swimmer is allowed to help navigate in limited spans.

All the while training and setting records, More has organized a fund-raiser Escape from Alcatraz to Escape from Poverty.  Fourteen high school students - a dozen from Menlo and two from Sacred Heart Prep - are securing pledges to benefit Children International, and will swim from San Francisco to Alcatraz Island and back Oct. 28.