Dog beats most in swim from Alcatraz

Golden retriever 'Jake' first non-human in annual competition

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Paddling into record book
Aug 2: Jake, a 65-pound golden retriever, became the first canine known to make the swim from Alcatraz to the San Francisco shoreline. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.

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updated 1:38 p.m. ET Aug. 2, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - One of the swimmers in this weekend’s Alcatraz Invitational swim has dog paddled his way into the record book.

Jake is a 65-pound golden retriever and the only non-human in the tenth annual 1.2 mile swim from the infamous prison island to the San Francisco shore. The four-year-old pooch swam across the cold, choppy water in just under 42 minutes, finishing 72nd out of the more than 500 swimmers. Organizers say it was the first known crossing by a dog.

The crowd cheered as Jake made his way onto solid ground, shook himself and dodged a woman who tried to put a medal around his neck.

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Jake’s owner, Jeff Pokonosky, says the two swim four miles a week and bodysurf together. His training secret? Jake always gets scrambled eggs before a big swim.