A Long Island coach is training to swim the route of Alcatraz prison escapees supposedly took 60 years ago to raise money for a good cause. 

Coach Richard Carroll has helped to run the football program St. Francis Prep in Queens for nearly 20 years.  

Carroll has taken on plenty of challenges as a football coach. His newest challenge is raising funds for a new portable scoreboard the school needs.  

The best way to do that, at least in Carroll’s mind, is to attempt to swim the 2-mile route Alcatraz escapees took on June 12, 1962. The route in the San Francisco Bay is considered to be shark infested. 

“It gives me purpose for training. It gives me a purpose to keep moving in a direction stay healthy and stay fit,” Carroll explains. 

Carroll has a $10,000 goal. After just two days, he is nearly halfway there. 

“We’re already doing pretty well with the people who want to help out with the scoreboard,” Carroll says. “It’s been great.” 

The coach hopes to make his goal before he jumps into the waters on August 7. 

How does a football coach train for such a feat? 

Carroll says he has been training a lot in pools and in the open water. When asked if he was concerned about the uptick in shark sightings and even bites, he says he has no concern. 

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