[Music]
[Applause]
we mmunity 12
50 years five years old and I’m learning
Swahili this year that’s my new
challenge so I’m here to talk about
preparation the preparation on plump it
out is an event that I was involved in
thirty years ago this month in May of
2004 I swam from Alcatraz to San
Francisco for those of you that don’t
know where San Francisco is it’s on the
west coast of the United States in the
state of California
Alcatraz famous islands you might have
heard of where there was a prison it
used to be a United States Army port and
today it’s a national park or you can
visit San Francisco what you see on the
bottom and Alcatraz is the aisle you see
in the middle from Alcatraz to San
Francisco is 1.5 mile it’s a mile and a
half for those of you that are Americans
I had to say that for all the rest of us
it’s two thousand four hundred and
fourteen kilometers from Alcatraz to San
Francisco the water temperature in San
Francisco is 50 degrees Fahrenheit and
ten degrees Celsius so why did I do this
why and what was my preparation for this
event at the time in 2004 I was living
in San Francisco and I was a personal
trainer and I was working as a volunteer
the American Diabetes Association
diabetes is an epidemic I’m not going to
go too much into dieting that’s the
reason I did this event I wanted to
raise awareness in some money about the
epidemic of diabetes now there dip many
different types of diabetes and if
you’re a doctor in the audience excuse
my Labor’s explanation but the type of
diabetes that I was concerned with this
way the United States we call type 2 in
the old days it used to be called adult
onset diabetes and it’s a scourge of the
world today in the United States one out
of every three children born will get
type 2 diabetes it is a disease that is
very preventable it is because of poor
lifestyle habits in America of modern
families lack of exercise poor diets
that’s as far as I’m going with with
diabetes but I felt how can someone like
me raise awareness of diabetes I could
go one by one and that is effective but
I wanted to have a larger effect so I
decided that I would do a publicity
stunt I would swim handcuffed from
Alcatraz to San Francisco on my left
half in ten degrees water I am NOT a
little swimmer I have not a college I
did not swim in high school I swam maybe
two years as a third fourth grader on a
swim team I was raised in San Francisco
like you like them to Beach how long you
survive and ten degree water not very
long so part of my preparation was I
began to make a plan I began to look at
how do you do this so what’s a good way
to research editing something well the
internet didn’t exist a few years ago
you might not know that but it was the
internet except there probably only been
three or four people that have done a
stunt like this and unfortunately none
of them were available to me so I went
out and I did my research how does a
43-year old man who’s used to wearing a
suit and tie swim a mile and a half I
grab a notebook and I started writing
down everything I thought I would need
to do how long does it take this one a
mile and a half I had swum Alcatraz to
San Francisco before sometimes it took
me 50 minutes sometimes it took me 30
the current in San Francisco was very
famous for being a very very difficult
on certain days on certain days it’s
like a pond I did not know what that day
I’ve been faced so how do you prepare I
found anybody I knew that could help me
with information because I didn’t do
this alone nobody had done the swim okay
do I know anybody that has handcuffs
which I had a brother long to share a
pair of handcuffs so I put on a pair
handcuffs and jumped in the bed nobody
around Oh B to C B also clubbing that’s
a smart because go to be saving and as I
drifted by I realized I’m really gonna
have to do some research on the currents
because this Beach is in San Francisco
and it goes out the Golden Gate I got
about 20 meters offshore and I realized
I was 15 out the Golden Gate and I had
to swim as hard as I could just to make
it back to shore and walk back to my car
I need to do some more research how do I
do that I went to the dolphin Club which
is a swimming club in San Francisco
found the most experienced swim master
who runs a boat every day and he said no
problem we can do this I’ll give you
days so now the tides are not my problem
tied to a crow be out in the Pacific
Ocean or gonna be done by an expert
okay he said how long can you stay in
the water well I’ve done
five minutes he’s a felon can you stay
in the bay for 90 minutes I don’t know
I’m gonna start training so I started
training I started swimming every single
day of the bed until I knew that I could
just a swimsuit swim in the bay for 90
minutes and then I did it handcuffs
nobody can teach you how to swim in
handcuffs because nobody knows how to do
it so I started swimming the man to us
it was a complete failure my back hurt
my shoulders were so I invented a stroke
I’m handcuffed like this put my arms out
I bring them back a minute better do
something with my feet so basically I
did the breaststroke with my feet that’s
how I taught myself to swim I gave
myself six weeks the bodhi see in the
back fellow in the yellowjacket he’s a
retired sheriff in San Francisco he
spent six weeks talking to me prepping
me the people in the kayak or a couple
of friends they were I was a safety boat
we went out panicking every weekend and
they would simply follow me to see if I
could actually do this preparation I
began planning I arranged the planning I
went to a yacht club can I have a vote
and I have a couple of people your age
high school kids who followed me if we
needed the boat I went into the American
Diabetes Association and asked them to
sponsor me I went to a local sporting
clubs and they made me swim caps and
they made a shirt woman it said escape
from diabetes that was the event all of
these things took time and they were
preparation I didn’t wake up one morning
decided to jump in the bed and then just
do it I woke up one morning decided I
was gonna do it and that’s something
important for all of you when I was your
age I’m sitting in a meeting like this
and I would have been asleep I’m a high
school dropout didn’t graduate from high
school didn’t graduate from college
until I was 50
years old you can do whatever you want
wherever you are today is my brother who
spoke first said you can accomplish that
you can do anything you want
sweetie from Alcatraz handcuff is not
that difficult no matter what your
physical capabilities are I have a
average to below average athlete this
was simply a mental training exercise I
enlisted friends both the kayaks and
boats any clothes follow me along two
days before the event I went out with my
friend in the Yellow Jacket and he said
absolutely not we can’t do it the
water’s to drop the weight for 65 he
canceled his normal swim completes a lot
of TV cameras I have television show
that we’re taping
I have newspaper reporters coming out
because it’s something that most people
think is not possible I said okay well
let’s try Wednesday see what weather
looks like then as you can see San
Francisco well Bay was completely calm
there was one thing I hadn’t planned
before I told the television cameras to
be there at 8 o’clock one morning
because the water was so calm I finished
early
it took me 54 minutes to swim from San
Francisco Albatros to San Francisco but
one thing I hadn’t planned for was
getting there early so I literally had
to sit outside the the bay that I was
landing in tread water for 10 minutes
it’s their friends saying that cameras
are ready now we could never plan for
everyday or anything
the one thing I didn’t plan for that’s
my brother-in-law who wasn’t Shara is
now retired uncoming me after 54 minutes
those are TV cameras those are newspaper
cameras the swim was unimportant my goal
was very poor was to raise awareness
about the epidemic
diabetes this was simply the way to do
it this is me talking on camera after
they they take the handcuffs off
something I didn’t plan for after 50
minutes in the bay with salt water and
cold water when you’re being interviewed
on TV sound like this because I’ve
totally got my daughter so again I
didn’t plan to speaking after 50 minutes
in the bed I achieved my goal my goal
was to raise awareness about diabetes
this is the cover of the Oakland tribute
the day activist after the swim I was on
the cover the over the Tribune the San
Francisco Examiner so that is the front
in those days we had newspapers some Oh
some of your parents remember newspapers
so essentially four million people the
day after my swim saw my picture on the
cover of the San Francisco Examiner and
the Oakland Tribune
those were the two of the larger papers
the morning news show on Fox News which
is a big a big network that you’ve heard
of they had two weeks later Fuji TV from
Japan called me and won an interview me
BBC also called the interview so I was
able to accomplish what I wanted it was
to raise awareness about diabetes
swimming from Alcatraz unimportant but I
put in six weeks of preparation so I can
achieve my goal all of you can do the
same thing make a plan it doesn’t have
to be fancy you don’t need a Google Doc
you don’t need an Excel spreadsheet
you don’t need whatever else my brother
who just spoke would know about
technologies and some even know what you
guys are using for homework the bottom
line piece of paper a pencil
write down what you want to do and start
building a team to help you achieve that
that’s me and that’s me loving my risks
but you see the team behind me that’s my
friend in the yellow jacket he’s been
swimming in the bay for four years he’s
been living in San Francisco for sixty
he designed the plan to me to succeed
the red jacket on the Left it’s a high
school student who gave up this morning
to get up at 4:00 in the morning and
ride me over the boat and borrow for me
so that we could have a safety boat that
is the team that allowed me to achieve
my goal my parents are in there and my
brother-in-law’s in there my best friend
my another best friend who taught me to
kayak and to swim in the bay while she
was following me in a kayak this is the
team that I built again I’m not a super
swimmer I’m not super happy
I designed the program to allow me to do
what I needed to do I practiced and
thought about every single thing I
thought that could go wrong I obviously
didn’t think about a couple of things
that could go right I finished you early
and that I wouldn’t be able to speak
clearly
while my mouth was frozen all of you
have a team whether you know it or not
it can be your teacher in school it’s
certainly your parents if someone you
don’t know you look at any successful
business person
Bill Gates any successful politician
they have a team and you know what
people that you don’t even know today
want to be on your team my friend of the
yellow jacket was a retired San
Francisco sheriff until I just walked
into his office where he runs the
swimming at the dolphin Club in San
Francisco he’d never heard of me there’s
no reason he didn’t throw me out instead
he said yeah we can do this let me look
at the tide tables okay these are the
six days in Maine you can do this thing
let me get a boat he couldn’t get a boat
you said go talk to somebody else to get
a boat everybody can build the team to
allow them to achieve whatever they want
to do now for 13 years I’ve been living
off this stuff I just started training
for your job last year 20 people
incredibly successful Award winners
I nearly graduated phd’s people with all
sorts of awards they always talked about
my first who swim from Alcatraz and that
do whatever you want to do because there
is nothing that is impossible
primarily aim is pocket is the highest
if that I planned this when I was 43 I
didn’t graduate college until I was 52
nothing is impossible for any of us and
what I really want to get across will
have that piece of paper today will let
that pencil and write down what you want
to do and then simply figure out how to
do it build routine look for people who
want to assist you because there are
lots of people who want to be on your
team half the people in this picture did
not know me six weeks before my parents
knew me
my friends knew the fellow on the Left
who runs the American Diabetes
Association he was super excited to be
there the woman in red she’s our up
she’s reporting for the Oakland Tribune
the woman in the swimsuit had no idea we
that is decided to swim in with me
there’s always somebody who wants to
help you achieve your goals and you may
not even know who they are today
it doesn’t matter when you want to
achieve your goals you start today don’t
worry about the past I appreciate your
time and I just implore all of you not
to think about where you are today but
where you want to be tomorrow you want
to swim hand up I do not recommend it
but there’s absolutely no reason that
whatever you want to do whatever reason
you can’t accomplish my goal and I’m
still doing it 13 years later is to talk
about diabetes that’s not what I do for
a profession anymore I’m not a personal
trainer but it is still a concern of
mine and now I’ve talked to a hundred
people about the scourge of that and
epidemic of diabetes I’ve also talked
some young people about setting a goal
it’s not that difficult to do the
impossible if I can do it any of you can
do it I appreciate your time and start
today thank you
[Applause]
you
[Applause]
we mmunity 12
50 years five years old and I’m learning
Swahili this year that’s my new
challenge so I’m here to talk about
preparation the preparation on plump it
out is an event that I was involved in
thirty years ago this month in May of
2004 I swam from Alcatraz to San
Francisco for those of you that don’t
know where San Francisco is it’s on the
west coast of the United States in the
state of California
Alcatraz famous islands you might have
heard of where there was a prison it
used to be a United States Army port and
today it’s a national park or you can
visit San Francisco what you see on the
bottom and Alcatraz is the aisle you see
in the middle from Alcatraz to San
Francisco is 1.5 mile it’s a mile and a
half for those of you that are Americans
I had to say that for all the rest of us
it’s two thousand four hundred and
fourteen kilometers from Alcatraz to San
Francisco the water temperature in San
Francisco is 50 degrees Fahrenheit and
ten degrees Celsius so why did I do this
why and what was my preparation for this
event at the time in 2004 I was living
in San Francisco and I was a personal
trainer and I was working as a volunteer
the American Diabetes Association
diabetes is an epidemic I’m not going to
go too much into dieting that’s the
reason I did this event I wanted to
raise awareness in some money about the
epidemic of diabetes now there dip many
different types of diabetes and if
you’re a doctor in the audience excuse
my Labor’s explanation but the type of
diabetes that I was concerned with this
way the United States we call type 2 in
the old days it used to be called adult
onset diabetes and it’s a scourge of the
world today in the United States one out
of every three children born will get
type 2 diabetes it is a disease that is
very preventable it is because of poor
lifestyle habits in America of modern
families lack of exercise poor diets
that’s as far as I’m going with with
diabetes but I felt how can someone like
me raise awareness of diabetes I could
go one by one and that is effective but
I wanted to have a larger effect so I
decided that I would do a publicity
stunt I would swim handcuffed from
Alcatraz to San Francisco on my left
half in ten degrees water I am NOT a
little swimmer I have not a college I
did not swim in high school I swam maybe
two years as a third fourth grader on a
swim team I was raised in San Francisco
like you like them to Beach how long you
survive and ten degree water not very
long so part of my preparation was I
began to make a plan I began to look at
how do you do this so what’s a good way
to research editing something well the
internet didn’t exist a few years ago
you might not know that but it was the
internet except there probably only been
three or four people that have done a
stunt like this and unfortunately none
of them were available to me so I went
out and I did my research how does a
43-year old man who’s used to wearing a
suit and tie swim a mile and a half I
grab a notebook and I started writing
down everything I thought I would need
to do how long does it take this one a
mile and a half I had swum Alcatraz to
San Francisco before sometimes it took
me 50 minutes sometimes it took me 30
the current in San Francisco was very
famous for being a very very difficult
on certain days on certain days it’s
like a pond I did not know what that day
I’ve been faced so how do you prepare I
found anybody I knew that could help me
with information because I didn’t do
this alone nobody had done the swim okay
do I know anybody that has handcuffs
which I had a brother long to share a
pair of handcuffs so I put on a pair
handcuffs and jumped in the bed nobody
around Oh B to C B also clubbing that’s
a smart because go to be saving and as I
drifted by I realized I’m really gonna
have to do some research on the currents
because this Beach is in San Francisco
and it goes out the Golden Gate I got
about 20 meters offshore and I realized
I was 15 out the Golden Gate and I had
to swim as hard as I could just to make
it back to shore and walk back to my car
I need to do some more research how do I
do that I went to the dolphin Club which
is a swimming club in San Francisco
found the most experienced swim master
who runs a boat every day and he said no
problem we can do this I’ll give you
days so now the tides are not my problem
tied to a crow be out in the Pacific
Ocean or gonna be done by an expert
okay he said how long can you stay in
the water well I’ve done
five minutes he’s a felon can you stay
in the bay for 90 minutes I don’t know
I’m gonna start training so I started
training I started swimming every single
day of the bed until I knew that I could
just a swimsuit swim in the bay for 90
minutes and then I did it handcuffs
nobody can teach you how to swim in
handcuffs because nobody knows how to do
it so I started swimming the man to us
it was a complete failure my back hurt
my shoulders were so I invented a stroke
I’m handcuffed like this put my arms out
I bring them back a minute better do
something with my feet so basically I
did the breaststroke with my feet that’s
how I taught myself to swim I gave
myself six weeks the bodhi see in the
back fellow in the yellowjacket he’s a
retired sheriff in San Francisco he
spent six weeks talking to me prepping
me the people in the kayak or a couple
of friends they were I was a safety boat
we went out panicking every weekend and
they would simply follow me to see if I
could actually do this preparation I
began planning I arranged the planning I
went to a yacht club can I have a vote
and I have a couple of people your age
high school kids who followed me if we
needed the boat I went into the American
Diabetes Association and asked them to
sponsor me I went to a local sporting
clubs and they made me swim caps and
they made a shirt woman it said escape
from diabetes that was the event all of
these things took time and they were
preparation I didn’t wake up one morning
decided to jump in the bed and then just
do it I woke up one morning decided I
was gonna do it and that’s something
important for all of you when I was your
age I’m sitting in a meeting like this
and I would have been asleep I’m a high
school dropout didn’t graduate from high
school didn’t graduate from college
until I was 50
years old you can do whatever you want
wherever you are today is my brother who
spoke first said you can accomplish that
you can do anything you want
sweetie from Alcatraz handcuff is not
that difficult no matter what your
physical capabilities are I have a
average to below average athlete this
was simply a mental training exercise I
enlisted friends both the kayaks and
boats any clothes follow me along two
days before the event I went out with my
friend in the Yellow Jacket and he said
absolutely not we can’t do it the
water’s to drop the weight for 65 he
canceled his normal swim completes a lot
of TV cameras I have television show
that we’re taping
I have newspaper reporters coming out
because it’s something that most people
think is not possible I said okay well
let’s try Wednesday see what weather
looks like then as you can see San
Francisco well Bay was completely calm
there was one thing I hadn’t planned
before I told the television cameras to
be there at 8 o’clock one morning
because the water was so calm I finished
early
it took me 54 minutes to swim from San
Francisco Albatros to San Francisco but
one thing I hadn’t planned for was
getting there early so I literally had
to sit outside the the bay that I was
landing in tread water for 10 minutes
it’s their friends saying that cameras
are ready now we could never plan for
everyday or anything
the one thing I didn’t plan for that’s
my brother-in-law who wasn’t Shara is
now retired uncoming me after 54 minutes
those are TV cameras those are newspaper
cameras the swim was unimportant my goal
was very poor was to raise awareness
about the epidemic
diabetes this was simply the way to do
it this is me talking on camera after
they they take the handcuffs off
something I didn’t plan for after 50
minutes in the bay with salt water and
cold water when you’re being interviewed
on TV sound like this because I’ve
totally got my daughter so again I
didn’t plan to speaking after 50 minutes
in the bed I achieved my goal my goal
was to raise awareness about diabetes
this is the cover of the Oakland tribute
the day activist after the swim I was on
the cover the over the Tribune the San
Francisco Examiner so that is the front
in those days we had newspapers some Oh
some of your parents remember newspapers
so essentially four million people the
day after my swim saw my picture on the
cover of the San Francisco Examiner and
the Oakland Tribune
those were the two of the larger papers
the morning news show on Fox News which
is a big a big network that you’ve heard
of they had two weeks later Fuji TV from
Japan called me and won an interview me
BBC also called the interview so I was
able to accomplish what I wanted it was
to raise awareness about diabetes
swimming from Alcatraz unimportant but I
put in six weeks of preparation so I can
achieve my goal all of you can do the
same thing make a plan it doesn’t have
to be fancy you don’t need a Google Doc
you don’t need an Excel spreadsheet
you don’t need whatever else my brother
who just spoke would know about
technologies and some even know what you
guys are using for homework the bottom
line piece of paper a pencil
write down what you want to do and start
building a team to help you achieve that
that’s me and that’s me loving my risks
but you see the team behind me that’s my
friend in the yellow jacket he’s been
swimming in the bay for four years he’s
been living in San Francisco for sixty
he designed the plan to me to succeed
the red jacket on the Left it’s a high
school student who gave up this morning
to get up at 4:00 in the morning and
ride me over the boat and borrow for me
so that we could have a safety boat that
is the team that allowed me to achieve
my goal my parents are in there and my
brother-in-law’s in there my best friend
my another best friend who taught me to
kayak and to swim in the bay while she
was following me in a kayak this is the
team that I built again I’m not a super
swimmer I’m not super happy
I designed the program to allow me to do
what I needed to do I practiced and
thought about every single thing I
thought that could go wrong I obviously
didn’t think about a couple of things
that could go right I finished you early
and that I wouldn’t be able to speak
clearly
while my mouth was frozen all of you
have a team whether you know it or not
it can be your teacher in school it’s
certainly your parents if someone you
don’t know you look at any successful
business person
Bill Gates any successful politician
they have a team and you know what
people that you don’t even know today
want to be on your team my friend of the
yellow jacket was a retired San
Francisco sheriff until I just walked
into his office where he runs the
swimming at the dolphin Club in San
Francisco he’d never heard of me there’s
no reason he didn’t throw me out instead
he said yeah we can do this let me look
at the tide tables okay these are the
six days in Maine you can do this thing
let me get a boat he couldn’t get a boat
you said go talk to somebody else to get
a boat everybody can build the team to
allow them to achieve whatever they want
to do now for 13 years I’ve been living
off this stuff I just started training
for your job last year 20 people
incredibly successful Award winners
I nearly graduated phd’s people with all
sorts of awards they always talked about
my first who swim from Alcatraz and that
do whatever you want to do because there
is nothing that is impossible
primarily aim is pocket is the highest
if that I planned this when I was 43 I
didn’t graduate college until I was 52
nothing is impossible for any of us and
what I really want to get across will
have that piece of paper today will let
that pencil and write down what you want
to do and then simply figure out how to
do it build routine look for people who
want to assist you because there are
lots of people who want to be on your
team half the people in this picture did
not know me six weeks before my parents
knew me
my friends knew the fellow on the Left
who runs the American Diabetes
Association he was super excited to be
there the woman in red she’s our up
she’s reporting for the Oakland Tribune
the woman in the swimsuit had no idea we
that is decided to swim in with me
there’s always somebody who wants to
help you achieve your goals and you may
not even know who they are today
it doesn’t matter when you want to
achieve your goals you start today don’t
worry about the past I appreciate your
time and I just implore all of you not
to think about where you are today but
where you want to be tomorrow you want
to swim hand up I do not recommend it
but there’s absolutely no reason that
whatever you want to do whatever reason
you can’t accomplish my goal and I’m
still doing it 13 years later is to talk
about diabetes that’s not what I do for
a profession anymore I’m not a personal
trainer but it is still a concern of
mine and now I’ve talked to a hundred
people about the scourge of that and
epidemic of diabetes I’ve also talked
some young people about setting a goal
it’s not that difficult to do the
impossible if I can do it any of you can
do it I appreciate your time and start
today thank you
[Applause]
you
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