Joe Oakes

Old. Right there is a loaded word. Sometimes it is used as a pejorative, as in ‘old coot’ or ‘old geezer,’ but I like it, because I have earned the right to be called old and am enjoying my seniority immensely. Let me give you an example. Last month (October, […]

AGING WET

19 Dec, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest / Motivation by Joe Oakes

I am not a believer in numerology, but a confluence of related numbers caught my attention a while ago. Here is what I noticed. My next birthday would be my 84th. I started swimming in ’48. Over the years I have done 41 swims from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco. […]

Just One More Alcatraz Swim

19 Sep, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Events / Human Interest / Long Distance / Motivation / Open Water by Joe Oakes

Alofi, Niue — January, 2018. Sometimes I think that I am the luckiest guy in the world. I love to swim and I love to travel. I indulge both of those passions while cruising the open seas. This year it is in the South Pacific, on board the mv Amsterdam, with stops […]

Swimming Across Polynesia

21 Jun, 2018 in Aqua Master Online / Featured by Joe Oakes

My summer ended with a two week stay at Squaw Valley, located about half way between Lake Tahoe and Donner Lake in Northern California. I try to get there in August as often as I can so I can get in some training in cold water at high altitude. […]

Bliss and Disappointment

22 Sep, 2017 in Aqua Master Online / Featured by Joe Oakes

Over the years I have chased down a few records that others seem to have overlooked. In 1994, at age 60, I became the first person to swim in the Bering Strait from Russia to Alaska. At times I have done other things that some might think odd, but it […]

An Obscure World Record

15 Aug, 2017 in Aqua Master Online / Featured by Joe Oakes

Here is your geography question for today: Which country is the third closest neighbor to the USA, with Mexico and Canada occupying the top two slots? Here’s a clue: it is across the water. No, it is not Cuba, nor is it in the Atlantic. Second clue: it is the […]

Swimming From Tomorrow To Today

23 Jan, 2017 in Aqua Master Online / Featured / Human Interest / Motivation by Joe Oakes

Jumping off the boat into the Columbia River — Every year on Labor Day I like to do the Roy Webster Cross Channel Swim in Hood River, Oregon. It is one of my favorite events. At 75 years 2017, it is the second oldest swim in the United States. The 2016 event was my sixteenth. Here is what I […]

LeRoy Webster’s Columbia River Swim

16 Oct, 2016 in Aqua Master Online / Featured / Human Interest / Long Distance / Open Water by Joe Oakes

The blood has long ago been washed away by the cold Atlantic waves, the blood of tens of thousands of young men, killed and wounded, here on Gold Beach, Omaha Beach, Utah, Sword and Juno Beaches. This morning the tide is rising, now halfway up, just as it was on June 6, 1944 when […]

In Flanders Fields

20 Apr, 2016 in Aqua Master Online / Human Interest by Joe Oakes

Swimming for Life