Tag archives for Eric Shanteau
Posted by Welcome to the final week of the Great Turtle Race! I’m Rowdy Gaines, and we are thrilled to report that after thousands of miles of swimming, we have a winner! Backspacer has finally ended the suspense! She made up her mind and crossed the finish line through the Windward Islands, between St. Vincent and St. Lucia. Now she’s doing a victory lap inside the Caribbean. Congratulations to Backspacer and her coach, Eric Shanteau!
Illustration by Chris Rooney
Who will be next? There are several turtles who seem to be poised to beat the buzzer and finish the Race. Nueva Esperanza sure seems to be picking up speed. She is heading toward the Caribbean after being hundreds of kilometers out to sea. And how about Estéban? He seemed to almost cross the finish line, but bounced back and did a loop! Maybe he’s following Backspacer’s example.
Check out Seabiscuit! He’s oh-so-close to the finish line off Suriname and French Guiana! Maybe he’s waiting for Wawa Bear. Lindblad the Explorer seems to have stopped in her tracks like Billy did before. Maybe she’s whale watching, or maybe she’s just resting up for the final push to the finish line. She’d better hurry–she doesn’t have much time! Nightswimmer has changed course and is now heading west toward the US. Check out the interactive Race Map. Who do you think will be the next turtle to cross?
We know leatherbacks are deep divers, so what about our Race turtles? The deepest dive challenge results are in! The winner of this challenge is Grembo Jones. Grembo made a total of 6 dives that were more than 800 meters (2,625 feet) deep!
On the final day of the Race, we’ll announce the winner of the granddaddy of all swimming competitions: total distance traveled. Olympic star Aaron Peirsol is the official coach for this challenge. Check back on Wednesday, April 29th to see which turtle will claim the title of champion traveler!
Posted by Meet the talented athletes who will be involved in this year’s Great Turtle Race.
RACE COMMENTATOR
Rowdy Gaines
Often called “Swimming’s Greatest Ambassador,” Gaines is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame inductee. He’s set and smashed world records and faced down tremendous personal obstacles (including a temporary paralysis in 1991 from Guillain-Barré Syndrome) to become a world-class athlete and freestyle swimmer. His voice is famous, too. He does commentary for swimming competitions on NBC and ESPN–most recently for the exciting 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Photo: AP
EVENT COACHES
DEEPEST and LONGEST DIVES
Cullen Jones
A U.S. freestyle sprint swimmer and gold medalist, Cullen Jones is fast…. REAL fast! So fast, that he helped set a new world record time in the 4x100m freestyle relay in the most recent Beijing Olympics with teammates Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Garret Weber-Gale. And Jones is the first African-American to hold or share a world record in swimming–a pretty impressive feat.
Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
LONGEST-DISTANCE TRAVELED
Aaron Peirsol
Perhaps one of the best back strokers (um… ever?!) Peirsol currently holds the world record for the 100m back stroke. No stranger to success, he’s been earning medals from a young age. He went to his first Olympics when he was 16 and set his first world record at age 17. Plus, in Beijing he took home a Gold in the 4×100 medley relay and a Silver in
the 200m backstroke.
Photo: Thomas Kienzle/AP
TURTLE COACHES
Amanda Beard (Grembo Jones, Lindblad the Explorer and Estéban)
Competition is in Beard’s blood: So far, she’s swam in four different Olympic games! Her teammates even voted her one of the co-captains of the 2008 women’s swimming team. She has won seven, count ‘em, SEVEN medals for her swimming. She is also an avid supporter of many causes to defend wildlife and use her celebrity to encourage others to do so as well (including the Leatherback in this race.)
Photo: Mark J. Terrill/AP
Janet Evans (Nueva Esperanza, Nightswimmer and Searcher)
She may have retired from competitive swimming, but Evans left an indelible mark on the sport winning five medals (including four gold ones!) and setting seven world records with her one-of-a-kind “windmill” stroke. She even earned the nickname, Miss Perpetual Motion. This gold medalist knows what it takes to make it to the medals stand.
Photo: Simon Bruty/Allsport/Getty images
Jason Lezak (Seabiscuit, Wawa Bear and Billy)
As the most senior member of the 2008 men’s swimming team, Lezak brought the necessary experience and maturity to help win the 4x100m freestyle relay. As its anchor–both literally and figuratively, Lezak made a memorable and amazing comeback to close the gap between the Americans and the French team–helping the U.S. win the gold by eight hundredths of a second. He has earned three gold and two bronze medals for his swimming.
Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Eric Shanteau (Backspacer and Cali)
Shanteau won a spot on the 2008 U.S men’s team to swim the 200m breast stroke where he posted his personal best time. Just two weeks before Beijing, Shanteau was diagnosed with cancer. He delayed treatment to achieve his life’s goal of swimming in the Olympics and then returned to successfully beat the cancer. His tremendous fighting spirit and determination make him a stand-out competitor both in and out of the pool.
Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Length: 150.5 cm (5 ft)
Width: 113 cm (3 ft 9 in)
Weight: 375 kg (825 lbs)
Illustration: Chris Rooney
Sponsor: Pearl Jam
Coach: Eric Shanteau
Backspacer has a lot on her mind.
She joined the Race for the sake of the journey, to take to the road
and to think about where she’s been and where she’s headed next. She
started the Race from the most northerly point of any of her
competitors, deep in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Backspacer’s sponsors,
the legendary rock band Pearl Jam, are hoping that she can win the Race
and find her way home in time for the release of their new album in the
Fall!
Backspacer’s
coach, Olympic swimmer Eric Shanteau, has been helping her to focus on
moving ahead and taking deep breaths during her long sojourn south.
Go to the Great Turtle Race map.
Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
