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GUSTAVE
BRICKNER |
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1989 - SWIMMING |
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Gus Brickner of Charleroi has been
called the "Human Polar Bear" because of his cold water swimming
exploits.
Brickner, a retired steel worker, swam a total of 38,512 miles before
Nov. 1, 1986, a record which appears in the Guinness Book of World
Records. For many years, he has been swimming every day of the year
except Christmas in the Monongahela River, regardless of weather.
He has done cold water swims in the Monongahela, Allegheny and
Youghiogheny Rivers and is well-known for his New Year's Day swims on
television in Pittsburgh from 1951 through 1970. His long distance swims
have included 18, 15, 12 10 and eight miles in the Monongahela, 25 in
the Allegheny, 21 at Youghiogheny Lake Reservoir and 18 1/2 at Deep
Creek Lake, Md., in addition to 15-mile swims in Lake Ontario at
Toronto.
He twice attempted to swim the English Channel but was pulled from the
water four miles from shore in 1957 and 400 yards from the shore of
Dover, England in 1960.
Brickner, a former employee of the U.S. Steel Donora Mill and Christy
Park Works at McKeesport, also speaks to various groups on swimming and
physical fitness.
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