ISLAMORADA, Fla. -- Exhausted and dehydrated after swimming more than 24 hours, a New York man Thursday gave up his attempt to swim the 177 miles from Havana to the upper Florida Keys.
David 'Skip' Storch, 36, was about 35 miles north of Cuba when the support crew accompanying him decided to pull him out of a 27-foot by 10-foot steel shark cage that had been 'home' ever since Storch began the marathon swim early Tuesday. He had become lethargic and medical personnel were concerned about low body core temperatures.
'I broke out into an emotional expression that came out in tears and crying,' Stork said of his exit from the water at 7:15 a.m., after arriving at Holiday Isle Resort Thursday evening. 'I feel like I came back from the dead.
'I was drinking a gallon of boiling water every hour (to maintain body temperature), but I felt myself slipping,' he said. 'I didn't want to stop for anything.
'They had to literally drag me out of the cage,' he said.
Stork, looking very tired and unsteady, was helped onto the land by supporters.
'The decision ( to stop) was made in the best interest of Skip's health,' said Joel Rosenstein, a support medical technician. 'At about 6 a.m. (Thursday) we looked at Skip, chatted with him and went over some of the vital signs,' Rosenstein commented. 'It was time for him to get out of the water because we were dealing with hyporthermia.
'Skip's core temperature was not being maintained,' Rosenstein added. 'If he would have stayed in the water it would have been to the point of no return where we would have needed some drastic medical care. '
Storch, of Spring Valley, N.Y., attempted to cross the Florida Straits without flippers, or snorkel or other equipment.
Billed as 'The Environmental Swimmer,' Storch was making the swim to call attention to the deterioration of coral reefs around the world.
Both the U.S. and Cuban governments gave him permission for the swim, and Cuban President Fidel Castro paid him a personal visit to to wish Storck good luck.
He was hoping to utilize the Gulf Stream to aid his progress, but strong currents and northerly winds prohibited him from ever reaching the northward-moving current. He was pulled from the water at 7:15 a.m.
'We calculated it would have taken me over 120 hours to get there (to Islamorada swimming under present conditions),' Storch said. 'I'll be back and I'll definitely try it again.
'But it'll take a little while to pay back my creditors,' he said.
Storch plans to remain at Holiday Isle until Saturday to rest and recuperate.
