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Seventy to swim in relay from Santa Cruz Island to Goleta
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STORY TOOLS 
More from County NewsIn the wee hours Saturday morning, when Barry Morrison dives into the cold darkness of the Pacific Ocean, he'll try not to think of the "s" word.
Sharks.
For the 20 minutes Morrison will be swimming in the Santa Barbara Channel, the Ventura resident is going to try to push thoughts of sharks out of his head and just enjoy looking at the stars above and the darkness below.
"It will be a little eerie," said Morrison, 48, one of about 70 swimmers participating in a 24-mile swimming relay from Santa Cruz Island to Goleta. "It'll be an adventure, something to put a feather in your cap."
For the fourth year, dozens of swimmers will cross the channel, 20 minutes at a time, as a fundraiser for ocean-related environmental groups.
Last year, the Ocean Ducks raised more than $28,000 for the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper group. This year, proceeds will go to the Environmental Defense Center. But the event does something beyond raising money, said the founder, Emilio Casanueva.
"A lot of people are very afraid of the ocean," he said. "This is a good a way to do away with that fear and give you comfort that you can swim in the middle of the ocean."
Swimmers don't need to be advanced, only able to swim any stroke for 20 minutes at a time, Casanueva said. Besides the large boat carrying the relay swimmers, a team of kayaks will flank the swimmers the entire time they are in the water. Each swimmer will do about five 20-minute swims.
Morrison, who used to swim competitively, is looking forward to the quiet solitude of the swim and hopes he sees dolphins or sea lions in that void below him. "It'll be kind of spiritual," he said.
Swimmers can sign up as late as 7 today. For more information, visit http://www.oceanducks.org/.
Posted by sslocal on September 14, 2007 at 11:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like an interesting event.
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