'I swam from the notorious Alcatraz prison island to San Francisco with my late dad's words spurring me on'
A 62-year-old asbestos surveyor from the Black Country swam from the notorious Alcatraz Island to San Francisco to help raise money in his late father's honour.
Endurance athlete Glyn Marston, from Willenhall, dived into the ice-cold waters of San Francisco Bay on August 31, to swim from Alcatraz Island to the city.
The waters around the famous prison island are notorious for the freezing cold and the strong tidal currents, but that doesn't stop thousands of thrill-seekers braving the swim each year.
The swim from Alcatraz Island, also known as 'The Rock', is so treacherous that before the prison closed in 1963 at least two prisoners were confirmed to have drowned in its waters, with a possible five more listed as 'missing or possibly drowned'.
However, this didn't scare Glyn, who swam the mile-and-a-half route to help raise money for the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, a charity that his late father Roland held close to his heart.
"I always wanted to do the swim from Alcatraz prison. It's always been a dream of mine, but I always put it off. I achieved one of my dreams," Glyn said.
"When my father died suddenly in January this year, we found that he had been donating on a regular basis to Battersea. My wife told me 'do it - but do it for your dad'. That's all I needed."
The father of two said that while the swim "wasn't as difficult" as he thought it would be, it was "the most iconic swim" he could ever do.
He said: "I've done endurance events all over the world, so it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. But this is by far the most iconic swim I will ever do. I always had dreams of seeing Alcatraz prison and doing the swim.
"I had been training like crazy, so I was well prepared for it. But I wasn't expecting how heavy the current was. It instantly pulls you off course."
The 62-year-old said that he was spurred on by words that his father had told him, telling himself to 'do it for dad'.
He added: "Before my father died, he always said 'don't let anyone put you down - if you try and fail, at least you have had a go'. That really spurred me on.
"Endurance events like these really help you to find out a lot about yourself. If you're thinking of doing something like this, go for it. If you try and fail, at least you have given it a shot."
Glyn is well-known in the endurance event community, and had previously cycled a 16-day route from the Tower of Pisa, Italy, to the Eiffel Tower, France, and then to Blackpool Tower.
More than £450 of his £1,500 goal for the swim has been raised on JustGiving. Learn more and donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/glyn-marston-alcatraz.
