It is interesting to note the definition of
a ‘record’ before discussing why Dr. Julie Bradshaw’s Butterfly swim around
Manhattan Island IS a first and a World First
For the purpose of record and clarity and avoidance of doubt the
definition and interpretation of ‘record’ is briefly referred to as:
a) ‘An account, as of information or facts, set down especially in writing as a
means of preserving knowledge’
b) ‘An account in permanent form, maybe in writing, preserving knowledge or
information about facts or events
c) “The sum of one's recognized achievements, career, or performance’
d) ‘Documents or volumes containing evidence’
AND HERE IS MY OBSERVER’S (Hsi-Ling) YOU
TUBE FOOTAGE (recently removed from You Tube October 2012) OF MY RECORD SWIM THAT SHE WITNESSED BEING THE NYC OFFICIAL
ON BOARD THE BOAT.
You can see that the swim began with all
the other relays form the official starting point, and finished at the official
finishing point – touching the buoy. It was recorded and written down by NYC
officials and with an NYC stopwatch.
NYC may say that they do not recognise
stroke-based records. However, if it is the first time in the world that
someone has done it, then it has to be a world record.
Dr. Bradshaw followed all the rules and
procedures for the swim and swam the entire way without breaking stroke (except
to feed) Common sense has to prevail in open water swimming since a swimmer
cannot hang on to a boat to feed since they would be disqualified. Hence they
tread water whilst taking on board fluids and food.
You can see in any footage that Julie’s
butterfly stroke has an over the water simultaneous arm recovery with a dolphin
leg kick. This is the same stroke that Julie uses in a pool and in fact, swam
to records in her age-group in Masters Competitions around the world. Julie has never been disqualified in any
competition for her stroke. It is legitimate and she has set all her records on
butterfly with this style.
The Manhattan butterfly record swim of the
‘Madfish’ went worldwide. Indeed, if there was anyone out there who had either
swam it proper butterfly or had done a faster time, then you can be certain
that they would have made it known. The fact of the matter and the reason WHY
IT IS A RECORD, is that it was a first in the world by any swimmer; prior to
Julie’s success, Manhattan Island had not been swam on traditional butterfly
and any so-called reports that sprang to light after 16th July 2011,
were not verifiable and in any case times of those swims were slower than 9
hours 28 minutes. Furthermore, Mr Chapman’s swim was not completed the whole
way butterfly-like stroke and this was finally acknowledged in recent communications by NYC
RECORD OR NOT?
When is a record not a record? THAT IS the
question. All Dr. Julie Bradshaw wishes for is the TRUTH.
What came out of all this and what was
asked in the first place, was ‘had the swim been done on butterfly or not?’ In
the end, through a communication finally in April 2012, the organisation
admitted that Mr. Chapman did not circle the entire 28.5 miles of Manhattan
Island on butterfly and even went so far to say that his stroke was not legal ‘traditional’
butterfly and certainly wouldn’t have been recognised in swim races.
What Charles Chapman did was remarkable as
he was the first Black American to swim the English Channel (frontcrawl) and to
even attempt his butterfly-like stroke in events was amazing. It showed a
different person, wishing to do something ‘outside the box’. He is worthy of
being fully applauded.
The previous section (The ‘Record’) showed
why Dr. Julie Bradshaw’s butterfly swim of Manhattan Island is a record. This
part will put in writing why NCY do not see it as a record. At the end of the
day, YOU can decide. In the words of NYC:
‘Since there was no enforcement of FINA or international standards for
the butterfly stroke, all these circumnavigations (those of Chapman, Lauer, Di
Donato twins referred to earlier) fall under the standards for crawl or
freestyle.’
NYC say they cannot
recognize Julie’s butterfly Manhattan swim as a world record since they cannot
substantiate or defend claims that Julie was the first or the fastest. NYC
acknowledge “Records” on a stroke-neutral basis for each of the following
categories:
- Course,
- Start/Finish
location
- Direction
- Number of
/non-stop circumnavigations
- Gender
- Age
(oldest/youngest)
- Citizenship/Nationality
(American and non-American (but not by each Country)
They can substantiate that
Julie has the first documented
butterfly-like circumnavigation of Manhattan by a woman since 1993. This they
say is consistent (despite many contradictions as the reader can see in the
Time Line) with their earlier dialogue and is something they ‘can continue to be comfortable with.’ Having a documented swim is not the same as
having it be a record. NYC say that any claim that Dr. Bradshaw’s butterfly swim
was a record would be erroneous.
Did the frontcrawl
(freestyle) world record last year in a separate event have FINA enforcement or
international standards attached to it? Have other swims around the world been
subject to this ie where strokes such as backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly
been recognized in open water and marathon swimming?
YOU HAVE THE FACTS. THANK
YOU FOR READING THIS WEBSITE AND HOPE THAT YOU HAVE ENJOYED IT. | 
