Walter Poenisch

Walter Poenisch, 86, Swimmer Who Covered Record Distances

By Wolfgang Saxon/New York Times 6/18/00

Walter Poenisch, a retired cookie baker and marathon swimmer who observed his 65th birthday by becoming the first man to swim from Havana to the Florida Keys -- a feat not universally recognized -- died on June 6 at his home in suburban Columbus, Ohio. He was 86.

On the night of July 11, 1978, Mr. Poenisch was seen off by Fidel Castro as he plunged into the Straits of Florida. Thirty-three and a half hours and 128.8 miles later, he staggered ashore at Little Duck Key, near Marathon, Fla.

Sticklers for the rules on such matters objected that Mr. Poenisch had worn swim finds, used a breathing tube and taken several breaks out of the water during a swim vouched for only by his wife and the captain and crew of his escort boat.

He and his witnesses countered that he could not have made it through shark-infested waters without the equipment and that he took only permissible medical breaks to be treated for jellyfish stings and for regreasing his body.

Mr. Poenisch, who had taken up long-distance swimming at 49, had already swum all the way into the Guinness Book of Records.

In 1976 he swam -- certifiably -- 122 1/2 miles from Key West to the tip of the Florida peninsula, at the time the world's longest ocean swim.

In earlier years, Mr. Poenisch performed as a rodeo rider and swimmer with a loaded river ferry in tow.

He was the superintendent of a bakery in Indianapolis before opening his own cake factory. He later worked as a cookie consultant and helped establish many other bakeries.

Mr. Poenisch's survivors include his wife, Faye: two sons, Richard I and Walter, Jr.; and two sisters, Olga Tokar and Jeanne Simon.