# Ex-Dolphin swims 9 miles to shore **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770 "2015-01-14T00:40:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/1 "2015-01-14T00:40:40Z")
[Former Dolphins fullback Rob Konrad popped into the news last week when he swam nine miles to shore in Florida after falling off his boat, which continued on without him while on autopilot to the Bahamas.](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/12/rob-konrad-on-nine-mile-swim-i-wasnt-dying-that-night/) Bet he was wishing he was still a Dolphin, would have made the swim a lot easier. Seriously though, that’s an absolutely amazing feat of endurance. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/2 "2015-01-14T03:48:41Z")
Reminds me of former Test cricketers Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds’ [excursion](http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report-fishing-almost-cost-symmo-his-life-1187280) - but they had it easy by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/3 "2015-01-14T03:55:22Z")
Being in South Florida, this has been getting some air time locally. People are starting to question his story…but no one has come up with any reason for him to make it up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/4 "2015-01-14T05:08:12Z")
He deserves something for that kind of feat. Somebody throw him a fish. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/5 "2015-01-14T05:14:12Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Being in South Florida, this has been getting some air time locally. People are starting to question his story…but no one has come up with any reason for him to make it up. > [@](#): > > Konrad held a press conference Monday, a day after being released from the hospital where he was being treated for dehydration, hypothermia and\*\* a breakdown of muscle tissue known as rhabdomyolysis\*\*. Not exactly something you can fake. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/6 "2015-01-14T05:15:33Z")
But can he balance a beach ball on his nose? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/7 "2015-01-14T05:18:57Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > But can he balance a beach ball on his nose? That would be an ex-SEAL. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/8 "2015-01-14T05:28:56Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > That would be an ex-SEAL. [I beg to differ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgeGkatC9rU). ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/9 "2015-01-14T05:32:14Z")
That sounds terrible. I know the human body can do some pretty incredible things in order to survive, but I have a hard time seeing myself come out of that situation alive. There’s a story in [Cheating Death: Amazing Survival Stories from Alaska](http://www.amazon.com/Cheating-Death-Amazing-Survival-Stories/dp/0945397615/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421213151&sr=1-3&keywords=cheating+death) about a fisherman who swam something like 29 hours going about 20 miles when his boat capsized. I’ve never been able to find any verification of it outside that book though. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/10 "2015-01-14T05:36:35Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > [I beg to differ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgeGkatC9rU). But a dolphin joke wouldn’t have worked. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/11 "2015-01-15T04:14:08Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > But a dolphin joke wouldn’t have worked. Balancing a dolphin on your nose? I don’t get the joke. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/12 "2015-01-15T04:48:34Z")
People swim the English channel so it’s certainly within the realm of human ability to swim 9, or even 20, miles. He could be exaggerating the distance, since only he knows how far he was from shore. Maybe it was 5 miles. But what he did is still something that a lot of people die trying to do. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/13 "2015-01-15T04:49:39Z")
> [@buddy431](#): > > That sounds terrible. I know the human body can do some pretty incredible things in order to survive, but I have a hard time seeing myself come out of that situation alive. > > There’s a story in [Cheating Death: Amazing Survival Stories from Alaska](http://www.amazon.com/Cheating-Death-Amazing-Survival-Stories/dp/0945397615/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421213151&sr=1-3&keywords=cheating+death) about a fisherman who swam something like 29 hours going about 20 miles when his boat capsized. I’ve never been able to find any verification of it outside that book though. And hey, don’t forget about [Guðlaugur Friðþórsson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%B0laugur_Fri%C3%B0%C3%BE%C3%B3rsson). [His story is freaking incredible](http://www.cracked.com/article_21518_5-epic-disasters-at-sea-survived-by-un-killable-badasses.html)! ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/14 "2015-01-15T04:58:09Z")
The ex-Dolphin accidentally fell out of the boat? I bet he did it on porpoise. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/15 "2015-01-15T05:08:21Z")
How could he tell which way to swim/ keep from swimming in circles? ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/16 "2015-01-15T05:17:19Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > How could he tell which way to swim/ keep from swimming in circles? Echo location ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/17 "2015-01-15T05:25:06Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > People swim the English channel so it’s certainly within the realm of human ability to swim 9, or even 20, miles. He could be exaggerating the distance, since only he knows how far he was from shore. Maybe it was 5 miles. But what he did is still something that a lot of people die trying to do. Technically, you could be a single mile from shore and end up swimming 100 miles worth of distance or 1/100th of a mile, depending on the direction and speed of the current. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/18 "2015-01-15T09:51:25Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > But can he balance a beach ball on his nose? I have actually seen a video of a real dolphin doing that. It won “behavior of the year award” at the 1983 (give or take a year or two?) annual conference of the International Marine Animal Trainers Association. (Okay, it was a volleyball, not a beach ball.) (ETA: Okay, is that what the video linked by **Sage Rat** is showing? I can’t view videos on this mochine. At the time I saw the IMATA video back in (circa) 1983, it was an utterly unheard of thing for a dolphin to do.) Seals (actually, California Sea Lions) can do that easily because they actually hold the ball in place with their vibrissae (whiskers). For a dolphin, it’s a real trick. I doubt any ex-dolphin could do it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/19 "2015-01-15T14:59:59Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > (ETA: Okay, is that what the video linked by **Sage Rat** is showing? I can’t view videos on this mochine. At the time I saw the IMATA video back in (circa) 1983, it was an utterly unheard of thing for a dolphin to do.) A video from 2014 of a dolphin balancing one of those “fitness balls” on his nose. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/20 "2015-01-15T15:14:11Z")
And not only balancing it, but carrying it back to the human from the other end of the pool. A nine-mile swim, meanwhile, is quite doable by someone even moderately athletic, provided the waters are calm enough. There are some strokes that use almost no energy, so you can keep them up nearly indefinitely. It’d probably take you all day, but you’d get to shore eventually. What kind of waves was he dealing with? And what water temperature? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770.md?page=2)