Gerry Rodrigues

Imagine his shock when Gerry Rodrigues dipped his big toe in Pacific waters for the first time. Going from the bathwater of the Caribbean to this ocean's frigid temperatures turned his face as blue as the sea. "It was so cold," he said. "I was living in San Clemente and the water must have been 55 degrees. I was used to it being 80 in the Caribbean." During the 13 years that Rodrigues, now of West L.A., has lived in Southern California, he has adjusted well.

Imagine his shock when Gerry Rodrigues dipped his big toe in Pacific waters for the first time. Going from the bathwater of the Caribbean to this ocean's frigid temperatures turned his face as blue as the sea. "It was so cold," he said. "I was living in San Clemente and the water must have been 55 degrees. I was used to it being 80 in the Caribbean." During the 13 years that Rodrigues, now of West L.A., has lived in Southern California, he has adjusted well.

Gerry Rodrigues of Manhattan Beach won the one- and three-mile races at the 23rd Seal Beach Rough Water Swim Saturday. Rodrigues won the three-mile race in 55 minutes 3 seconds. Chuck Wiley of Austin, Tex., was second in 55:15 and David Michaels of Los Alamitos was third in 58:27. Rodrigues' winning time in the one-mile race was 19:56. Karl Lyderson of Encinitas won the women's three-mile race in 55:28, and Eva Zakrzewski (58:36) of Mission Viejo was second.

Originally, they thought of storming City Hall wearing nothing more than Speedo swim trunks and plastic racing goggles. Ultimately, they settled on the Westwood Recreation Center, where about 200 of them--some carrying placards and towels--protested in their swimming attire over the weekend.

Sherry Kittrell didn't know who had passed her during the women's segment of the Seal Beach Rough Water Swim's 10-mile event Saturday. When Kittrell, 40, a physics teacher at Ocean View High School, was told it was 16-year-old Wendy Monahan of Huntington Beach, she was surprised. "A 16-year-old won!" Kittrell exclaimed when she heard the result. "No wonder she had a sprint."

They swam on Sunday, but the 1,369 water bugs who roughed up the Cove in the 58th La Jolla Rough Water Swim could hardly be called Sunday swimmers. The country's largest rough-water swim, over a one-mile course, doesn't attract the weekend athlete. Most casual athletic endeavors include timeouts, court changes or a token rest period, but unless a dolphin offers a ride, open-water swimmers don't have that option in the ocean. And it's a kind of swimming you can't simulate at the YMCA.

A rosy-cheeked little girl with hope in her heart approached the check-in desk at La Jolla Cove shortly after noon Sunday. "Are we going to get to swim today?" she asked in a small but determined voice. After a delay of an hour and 45 minutes, she got her answer when the 60th La Jolla Rough Water Swim resumed. Shark scares, polio outbreaks and wars have caused cancellation of one of the premier rough-water swims in the country 14 times since 1916.

Beginner's luck reared its head for some, and a handful of veterans relied on repetition to help earn their victories Saturday morning at the 25th Seal Beach Rough Water Swim. For former Huntington Beach lifeguard Andy Miller and Los Alamitos High graduate Kimberly Rubino, the first time was the sweetest. Both swam to victory in the 10-mile event. It took Miller 3 hours 13 minutes 34 seconds and Rubino 3:27:50.

Rafael Montijo learned early on that for some there was a conflict in being gay and an athlete. "I was in high school, a varsity swimmer, and just figuring out that I was probably gay," he said. "And from listening to people talk and the jokes they would tell, it didn't seem like anyone else was gay like me. I kept very, very quiet. I felt different. I was alone." But Montijo was not alone.

On the stairs leading down to La Jolla Cove, a stream of soaking women competitors strode past eight-time champion Beth Knight, shaking her hand in approval and shaking their heads in disbelief. "Way to go Beth," said one. "You are amazing, " said another. Sunday afternoon marked the ninth time Del Mar's Knight has tried to win the women's overall title at the La Jolla Rough Water Swim.