500 miles down, just 500 more to go for Newport Beach stroke survivor
It might have taken two additional summers, but Newport Beach resident Kenneth Mullinix finally hit the 500-mile goal for ocean swimming on Thursday — a far cry from his initial goal of just 100 miles back in 2020.
Mullinix, 65, is a stroke survivor.
Doctors told him in 2016 that he survived a mid- to moderate-sized stroke. Mullinix said the experience left him unable to speak, walk or form sentences for a year.
He started exercising again at the advice of his doctors, and in 2019 he set the goal of an accumulated 100 miles in the ocean after he realized he’d reached a total of 65 miles — at just under 2 miles per outing — without actively trying during his first year back in the water.
In 2020, he managed to accumulate 120 miles. He swam a total of about 133 miles in 2021, and this year he completed about 183 — for a combined total of about 500 miles swimming between Newport Pier and the jetty closest to 58th Street. He said while he often informs lifeguards about where he’s headed, it’s not unusual for him to see other people also supporting his efforts from the beach.
Sometimes, it’s fellow survivors.
“It’s just amazing to me that people will see me when I get back out of the water, and as I’m walking down the beach, they’ll say, ‘I’ve seen you out there,’ or talk about how they’ve also had strokes or cancer,” Mullinix said. “You kind of feel like the community’s getting behind you and that helps motivate you.
“I knew I’d still keep going [after 2020]. When you’re out there in the ocean, every day is different. There’s the currents, the tides, the fog — I went through probably five or six wetsuits.”
He said his next goal is to reach an accumulated 1,000 miles by the time he’s 70. A lofty goal, Mullinix said, but he’s turning 66 in three months. He admitted it was still a pretty unlikely stretch but said he felt it was important to have goals lying ahead of him.
“If I can walk 3 miles today, maybe I can walk 5 miles tomorrow. You’ve got to think in that mindset all the time,” Mullinix said.
He swims throughout the summer season. He was in the water shortly after Tropical Storm Kay in September, when he got caught in a rip current that pulled him out farther to sea than he normally swims.
It took him nearly an hour to swim back to shore.
“I’m lucky that I haven’t had any major life-threatening things, but every day you go out there, something can happen,” Mullinix said.
Mullinix said he feels it’s important to continue working toward preventive body maintenance, adding that while he considered himself an athlete for most of his life, he still had a stroke.
“The main point is to just keep going, whatever you accomplish. Hey, this old guy almost died five years ago and it’s through exercise that I’m even able to walk and talk today,” he said. “Get off the couch, go exercise, start walking around the neighborhood, whatever it is. You don’t have to swim 500 miles, but get out there and clean it up. Why wait until you have a health emergency? People don’t take the time.
“You’d better find time or you’re going to be in trouble.”
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