Scott Zornig – Episode 3

Scott Zornig is the co-founder of LBOWS (Laguna Beach Open Water Swimmers), a 33 year old 400 member swim group in Southern California founded by Mike Turdeau, Lynn Kuasek, and Scott Zornig. They swim in Shaw’s Cove (my favorite), Tablerock, Woods Cove, Crescent Bay, and Emerald Bay. I was fortunate to swim with Scott and friends in January of 2020 in Shaw’s Cove and experienced the Giggle Crack first hand, a terrifying and thrilling experience.

Giggle Crack – Shaw’s Cove, Laguna, California – LBOWS

Scott is also a commentator in the movie “Driven: A Glimpse Inside the World of Marathon Swimming” and a star of the Emmy award winning documentary covering Scott’s 2001 swim from Anacapa Island to mainland California on Channel 4 News.

Emmy award winning documentary 2001 swim from Anacapa Island to mainland California on Channel 4 News

Scott was President of the Santa Barbara Channel Swim Association from 2008 to 2016 and member from 2006 to 2016, and has completed over 20 marathon distance swims. He is a Marathon Swimmers Federation – Finalist, Streeter Award (2017) and USMS All American. He swam around all 73 ocean facing piers in California in 2013, captured in the book “the piers of the California coast” by Ed Grant.

Scott started Swim Camp Catalina in 2013 with Jamie Patrick and Swim Camp Mexico in 2016 with Marc Horwitz. You can learn more about the swim camps here: http://swimcamp.us/. His most memorable adventure swims:

  • Swimming in Iceland in the January snow of 2015 and lasting 17 minutes in 37 and 7 minutes in 34 degree water
  • Swimming 6 miles in the crystal clear 49 degree waters of Alaska in the summer of 2018
  • Swimming 2 miles around the Parliament in the canals of Copenhagen, Denmark and getting last place against the Danish national team. They all wore a wetsuit but he did not!

You can hear about these experience in my interview with him from May 11, 2020 here on Talbott.TV, on YouTube, on Facebook, or on IGTV (Instagram TV).

Scott’s most satisfying moments in swimming: When a new person joins LBOWS and shows up with a wetsuit and eventually loses the floatation to discover the job and health benefits of swimming sans wetsuit. Second most satisfying moments in swimming: when an LBOWS swimmer goes on to do their first marathon or cold water swim. He has been teaching people how to swim in the pool and ocean since he was 14 years old. I am proud to have him as my guest on Episode #3 of Talbott.TV. This interview was recorded on May 11, 2020. Enjoy!