UCSF's Bakar Fitness Center at Mission Bay is celebrating four intrepid young swimmers who completed their first Alcatraz swim on Sunday, Aug. 20. The swimmers trained for the swim in the fitness center's pool.
Nyla Gibb (14 years old); Kimberly Menjivar (22); Leslie Bustos-Gomez (28); and Johnny (LJ) Newkirk (28) were part of MAX_415, a youth and young-adult led program based in Bayview Hunters Point. MAX_415 grew out of MAX the VAX, a partnership with UCSF Professor Dr. Mary Mercer and the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Vaccine Outreach Branch to ‘bust the myths’ about vaccines in black and brown communities. Concerned about the pandemic’s impact on their overall wellbeing, youth rebranded as MAX_415 and launched a Together We Heal campaign in communities disproportionately affected by COVID. Inspired by Dr. Nancy Iverson’s Pathstar swim for Native Americans, MAX set its sights on an Alcatraz swim as one of its first-year goals for improving young people’s mental and physical health.
The South End Rowing Club (SERC) jumped in—literally!—to sponsor MAX swimmers. SERC members, including UCSF Professor of Medicine Dr. Jeff Critchfield, volunteered as swim angels to help them prepare for the 1.2 mile distance from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park. All four were new to open water swimming; Menjivar and Bustos-Gomez didn’t know how to swim at all when they started training in April. In June, UCSF Director of Fitness & Recreation, Neil Windisch, opened Bakar’s indoor pool at Mission Bay for Thursday afternoon training sessions.
“Having the pool at UCSF was vital to the training," said Newkirk. "It allowed me to really hone my stroke and form without all the variables of swimming in the Bay.” Bakar’s front desk staff and lifeguards provided an extra boost of confidence by cheering the MAX team on each week.
Leslie Bustos-Gomez at Bakar
The July schedule added early morning and weekend swims in the bay. “I like how I feel so refreshed afterwards," Gibb said. "It’s a shock at first but after a while your body feels so good.” Gibb recalled the first time she swam thru the opening of Aquatic Park—looking at the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from the water, she knew her goal was within reach. They weren’t without trepidation, however. Bustos-Gomez said she was pretty anxious in the days leading up to the swim. “I didn’t have much appetite and had trouble sleeping, but as soon as I got on the boat, I felt a blanket of calm that lasted through the jump and the swim.”
Menjivar, who grew up in the Mission, couldn’t believe she was able to finish. “I was extremely happy seeing my friends and family waiting for me at the shore. It was an incredible moment I’ll never forget!” As Mina Rhoden, SERC member and lead sponsor of the MAX swim observed, “Black and Brown people swimming from Alcatraz symbolically is very powerful."
Turns out sharing time in the pool and salt water provided a natural way to bridge the city’s geographic and cultural distances.
UCSF's Bakar Fitness Center at Mission Bay is celebrating four intrepid young swimmers who completed their first Alcatraz swim on Sunday, Aug. 20. The swimmers trained for the swim in the fitness center's pool.
