SWAM Engine SWAM Violin (Win) LINK
Born in 1920, Sanyi was two years older than I. Atthe age of nine or ten, he was already an excellent swimmer, while I had only started tolearn. I never caught up with him - in swimming or in any other department. He was betterin every sport; he was better at school and he had a personality that made him morelikable. I firmly believe that, had he lived longer, he would have been Olympic materialin the swimming competitions. He won many races in the few short years he lived. Once heswam across the fast-flowing River Tisa, across and back in almost a straight line whilefighting the river currents. He accomplished this to win a first prize of 25 Kcs. againstfirst class swimmers.
SWAM Engine SWAM Violin (Win)
RR: One of the fellows swam out to this coral reef. It sticks up, you know. The water splashes over it. So, he swam out to it. He sat on it and he sort of sat there. Then, he came back, swam back in and, when he came back in, his buttocks were just bright red with blood. See, this coral is like a bunch of razor blades and, when you sit on it and slide off it, boy, it really cut him up. He had some real gouges on his buttocks. We never swam out to coral reefs after that, or he did not, I'd say that. [laughter] One time, we had a storm down there, though. There was a hurricane while we were down there. ... One morning, we came out and there were five Catalinas up on the rocks, on the reef. ... One of them had his wing sticking right side up. We knew that was a wreck. We couldn't figure out what these others were doing, sitting there. ... I asked my instructor, I said, "What's the matter with those?" He said, "Go over and take a look. ... Their bottom is ripped out of them. They're just sitting on coral." So, one of those jobs we had down there [was], we had to dismantle these things. We took some of the instruments out and some of the clocks. ... I still have a little piece I took off the dashboard, "Cruise ninety-four knots." I took that and put it into my pocket. ... We wanted one of the clocks, but they wouldn't let us have one of the clocks. They were Jaeger eight-hour [eight-day?] clocks, you know, beautiful clocks. So, we took all that stuff out. ... We helped them dismantle the things, that is, the cockpits. ... We spent a couple of days doing that, but the RAF commander did not request help from the Americans. There were Americans down there, too, you know, an American base. ... They were building a Navy base. The RAF commander did not ask for help and the Americans offered to help, to get the Catalinas running, so [that] they'd get out to sea, maybe, a little bit, to save them from the storm. ... The RAF commander refused help and he was replaced forthwith the next day. They sent him out of there, because it was his responsibility. He lost us five Catalinas. 041b061a72