Valley man to swim from Alcatraz while shackled in bid to give hope to others

PHOENIX - A Valley man will be taking quite the swim this weekend. As part of the 39th Annual Alcatraz Escape From The Rock Duathlon event, Michael Murtaugh will swim across the San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz to the shoreline. Hundreds will be making the swim and then running seven miles in a duathlon.

Murtaugh is swimming with a message about addiction, and to bring that message home, he's swimming with his ankles shackled.

Alcatraz is located 1.6 miles (2.57 km) from the shore of San Francisco. On average, it's a 15-minute ferry ride, but for swimmers, they will deal with cold water, sharks, and other dangers.

So, why do it?

Murtaugh calls it a "race to recovery", and he wants to encourage people to break their addictions. In 2017, Murtaugh was in the middle of San Francisco Bay, swimming from Alcatraz to the shore.

"I'm going to tell you, it was a blessed miracle that God put his hand on me," said Murtaugh. "I was sick and tired of who I was. I was embarrassed of who I had become, and I couldn't stop drinking. I literally couldn't stop."

Murtaugh says help from recovery programs, his family, and his belief in God helped him quit drugs and alcohol. He has spent the last several years reaching out to help others, and on Saturday, the 54-year-old will swim for the sixth time from Alcatraz to the San Francisco shore, and then run seven miles as part of the Escape From The Rock Duathlon.

This year, there's a twist, with Murtaugh planning to swim the 1.6 miles (2.57 km) shackled.

Murtaugh's partner is a former Phoenix Police commander. Murtaugh's calls this event a race to recovery, and he is raising money for a group named PAL, or Parents of Addicted Loved ones. Murtaugh's ultimate goal is to raise hope for addicts when they see what Murtaugh has done.

"Knowing that I've done something that nobody has ever done before, a guy that picked to be dead and was so broken from my own choices to be able to now be able to chase my dreams and achieving them, that anything is possible," said Murtaugh.