In truly the longest swimming race of the year, 11 leatherback sea turtles set out Thursday from their foraging grounds in the frigid waters off the Atlantic coast of Canada. The turtles, tracked by GPS satellites, are “racing” to their nesting grounds in the Caribbean.
Although this is a necessary journey for the endangered turtles, what they may or may not know is that their trip has become a highly publicized educational event. After a great reception in the 2007 competition, this now annual Great Turtle Race promotes conservation of the species’ remaining population. Organizations, schools, and even rock bands are stepping in to sponsor competitors. Each turtle is also paired with an Olympic swimmer as a coach, and day-to-day commentary is provided by “The Voice of Swimming,” Rowdy Gaines.
Check out the coaches page to read more about the events and Olympic swimmers involved. Coaching the Deepest and Longest Dives will be Cullen Jones, while Aaron Peirsol will be coaching the Longest Distance Traveled event (the turtle that covers the most miles might not cross the finish line first). Coaches for the individual turtles include Amanda Beard, Janet Evans, Jason Lezak and Eric Shanteau. Here is a breakdown of the “teams” for each coach.
Of course it’s all in good fun to help promote these endangered turtles and the efforts of the Conservation International organization. But the coaches have been getting excited about the idea. In the Environment Blog on Reuters, Eric Shanteau played along with the idea of actually coaching sea turtles for the event. Here is an excerpt from the Reuters blog:
Olympic swimmer Eric Shanteau is coaching female competitor Backspacer, sponsored by alternative rock group Pearl Jam. He had nothing but praise for her training regimen.
