Father and 10-Year-Old Son Complete Odyssey Alcatraz Swim

“I just really like water and being in it.” – Maxim Sergunin

From 9 to 90, swimmers of all ages from around the world join Odyssey Open Water Swimming for the world-famous Odyssey Alcatraz swim. On June 24, 2023, father and son Sem and Maxim Sergunin took the challenge together.  

Maxim, 10 years old, is one of the youngest swimmers to complete the Odyssey Alcatraz swim – a challenging 2-mile swim from just outside of Alcatraz Island to the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. “I've been swimming for like 6 years, where I swim over a mile every practice,” says Maxim. “So my dad just asked me if I wanted to do it, and I agreed.”

Maxim’s dad, Sem, used to think of swimming as solely a survival skill. “When I visited Santa Cruz for the first time in 2011, I saw those swimmers gliding in the ocean… I realized these people enjoy staying in the water for hours rather than trying to escape from it.” This visit changed his attitude on swimming, and he decided to train to swim around the Santa Cruz wharf, which he accomplished in November of 2022.

Sem and Maxim didn’t take the challenge that swimming from Alcatraz presents lightly. “For this Alcatraz swim, we practiced 1-1.5 mile swims for 5-6 weeks,” says Sem. “We did weekly swims, and I'm part of a swim team, so I also swim there,” says Maxim. While the thought of swimming from Alcatraz is terrifying for some, Sem says the scariest part is signing up. “Those long-distance swims are usually less scary and more fun than you expect them to be,” says Sem.

Sem recommends “anyone who is good at swimming and not afraid of open water” to give the Alcatraz swim a try. “If you can do 100 laps in the pool, getting ready for (the) Alcatraz swim will take just a few open-water practices,” says Sem. “And if you can’t do 100 laps, get those in first.”

Congrats to Sem and Maxim on a successful Odyssey Alcatraz swim!