Mack's has been a sponsor of The South End Rowing Club's Alcatraz Invitational Swim for the last four years. Developed by Raymond Benner, a classical musician, who was also a swimmer, the earplugs were initially designed to combat the painful effects of Swimmers Ear.
Swimmers at the South End are encouraged to never use the word cold. However should the water ever be challenging, we feel that using their product extends the time we can swim in the bay, especially in the winter. A large amount of body heat is lost from the head and neck area of the body when immersed in water that is bracing. Water temperatures in the bay during the winter hover around 50 degrees. By using Mack's Pillow Soft Earplugs, we feel that we are able to stay a lot longer in the brisk water, than would appear possible from hypothermia tables often found in survival manuals. We don't have any scientific evidence, but we know we feel warmer when using Mack's.
Developed in 1962, Mack's is the original product of it's kind on the market. It is also the best and readily available at supermarkets, drug stores and sports retail outlets.
We like the generous amount of silicone plug that each one is made of, far superior to imitators that have come on the market in the past few years.
We were also pleased that last year Devin and Pete Benner, who still run the business their father began 43 years ago, came out to swim in our event. They both swam extremely well finishing up in the ranks of those that completed the swim.
Each swimmer will be given a box of Mack's and we hope you use them--right after listening to the Race Briefing.
Bill Wygant
President
South End Rowing Club