QUILCENE — Jason Pipoly, the paraplegic swimmer who gave 10 hours to chilly Hood Canal before giving up late Saturday, still hopes to break the world long-distance record one day.
Pipoly, 38, of San Antonio, Texas, took off from Herb Beck Marina on Quilcene Bay to set a world record as the first paraplegic to swim 40 miles with just the strength in his arms.
“I got in and it was pretty darn cold,” Pipoly told Peninsula Daily News on Sunday.
“I had a strong chop blowing right in my face, and that slowed me down a little.”
But the experience didn’t sour him on the inland waterway that would have allowed him to make the 40-mile swim one-way to Union.
“It was a great adventure — an extreme swim,” he said.
Pipoly swam 9 hours 54 minutes and covered 16 miles, said Debi Pfitzenmaier, who was tracking his progress.
“The [water] temperature just got too dangerous for anyone to be in for a long period,” she said.
