Ask About the Jellyfish

It’s bound to happen, just given the odds. This year’s class of legislative freshmen is the largest since 1966 when the Supreme Court’s one-man, one-vote ruling changed how state lawmakers were elected. One-third of the 120 members of the Legislature are new.

Given that volume – and California’s unique diversity – there must be some legislators with interesting backgrounds. There are. But only one is a member of the Half Century Club.

There are 64 members of the club, which is comprised of individuals 50-years-of-age or older who have swam the English Channel and other marathons. Assemblyman Mark Stone, a Santa Cruz Democrat, did it at the age of 52 on July 2009.

He left the shore at Dover at 2:57 in the afternoon, local time. Because of winds and currents, Stone swam 30 miles to make the 22-mile crossing.

It took 13 hours and 7 minutes, nearly 18 minutes better than  average for the 1,341 swimmers who have completed 1,801 solo swims, according to www.dover.uk.com. Of those solo swimmers, less than 20 percent are Americans.

Whether a fan of social media or not, Stone’s tweets from July 13, 2009 – presumably logged by some else — offer a compelling stroke-by-stroke account of his adventure:

“Has been swimming for 6 hours now. Sun is setting. There are jellyfish.”

Later:

“Finding swimming more difficult, Seas getting choppy. Wind coming up.”

Ten hours in:

“Is three miles from France. Seas have turned glassy again and the moon is trying to come out.”

Finally:

“We can smell Calais. Newly turned soil and baking bread. But we’re still an hour away.”

How hard can moving a bill to the governor’s desk be in comparison?

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