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.
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." |
