Article 189 c.2006
 

Hauck swimming past El Morro at the start of his 36-day swim around the island in 1988. He and his wife and children became the first family ever to swim across the English Channel.
By: Melissa Zayas
El Morrow Staff Writer 
Harry Hauck, professional scuba diver, long distance swimmer and former US Navy Frogman has lived his 77 years to the fullest and continues his breakneck pace with the same enthusiasm of his earlier years. 
His most recent project: restoring an antique cannon found off the waters of San Juan and donated to Fort Buchanan. The cannon might have been from one of the Earl of Cumberland's warships in 1598, when the British invaded the island near Santurce and held it for several months until an outbreak of the plague forced them to retreat. 
In 1988, Hauck also donated a Spanish anti- personnel cannon probably dating to 1775. It was found off the Dorado coast in 1987 by him and then existing Fort Buchanan Divers Team. This artifact is now located in front of the Headquarters building. 
"It was curious because one of the divers saw a pile of rocks that didn't belong to that area, under this pile of rocks was where we found the cannon," Hauck said. "At that time, they place rocks at the bottom of the wooden ships for ballast. When the ships sank, the wood would deteriorate, so the only thing that would be left was the rocks." 
In 1982, at age 54, Hauck became the first person to swim non-stop from St. Thomas to Puerto Rico, doing it non-stop for 30 hours. The purpose was to promote physical fitness for senior citizens. Having been bitten once by an eight foot shark, Hauck decided to tackle this swim inside a cage. 
English Channel Swim
In 1986, at age 58, he and his family successfully completed a relay swim across the English Channel to promote family values. 
Proudly representing Puerto Rico, the Haucks
were the first family to accomplish this and were the only one until 1993, when the Maroney family from Australia did so. No other family has repeated the feat to date. It took the Haucks 11 hrs. 13 mins. to swim from England to France. His only comment about an exploit anyone would be extremely proud of? "It was cold!" 
Hauck also swam around the Island of Puerto Rico in 1988 at age 60, as part of an anti-drug crusade co-sponsored by Hogares CREA and Fort Buchanan. The event took him 36 days. 
Hauck would swim each day to a different beach around the island. An anti-drug rally was held at each of the beaches. He swam three major laps for 10 consecutive days each, with one-day rest stops in Mayaguez, Ponce and Roosevelt Roads. 
In another feat, he swam for 24 consecutive hours at the Escambron beach as part of an AIDS awareness campaign. 
He has also contributed to the environment. He and his Fort Buchanan divers together with other diving clubs conducted dozens of beach cleanups around the island, where they would clean underwater trash. He received ample recognition for this from the NAUI underwater instructors association and environmental groups. 
Hauck came to Puerto Rico 40 years ago when he was hired at the Caribe Hilton as a swimming coach. He was also the first Water Polo coach on the island. In 1982, he began working at Fort Buchanan in charge of the scuba diving program. 
Hauck's dedication has received ample recognition especially for the clean-ups that he has done at public beaches and his support of noble causes. In 1992, he was named Citizen of the Year by the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board. 
His comments on all these adventures and feats? I am what I am," he said, "there's still more to come."

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