Garrett Cleary Interview

Inspiration is the fuel we all need in order to create and believe in possibilities. It gives us the confidence to take on new and exciting challenges in life. For me, I am always in awe of those individuals who have overcome some sort of obstacle (or obstacles) and have achieved what most people will never attempt. I was recently made aware of one such individual who has inspired me and rekindled my own motivation with his story of accomplishment. I reached out to Garrett and he graciously allowed me to interview him and have a conversation about his story. 

Garrett Cleary is a 25 year old Type 1 Diabetic who competed in the 2023 Catalina Classic Paddleboard race which is an intense 32 mile open ocean channel crossing on a paddleboard (obviously 😜) Athletes from around the world paddle across open seas from Isthmus Cove on Catalina island to Manhattan Beach on the mainland. It has been called an “ultra marathon on the sea.” The 2023 race was one for the record books. Not only did the racers wake up to and endure howling winds all day, they paddled through a 6 foot swell making it what some race organizers called the worst conditions in race history. As Christian stated “It was white capping out of the gate at 6am, we had wind coming head on and swell coming from either side (North and South)” 

My nephew Christian Stutzman was one of the finishing competitors in last year's race and had said “(It) was definitely one of the most difficult struggles I’ve ever had to go through, but it made it all the more rewarding!” He then shared a Manhattan Beach News article about Garrett, which I immediately found fascinating and needed to know more. 

In middle school he again refused to allow Diabetes to slow him down as he learned to surf and later joined the High School Surf team. He also took on employment as a lifeguard where he continued to hone his ocean skills. For his Diabetes management Garrett had used a mix of some of the Medtronic insulin pumps, but became tired of being connected to a pump all the time and returned to multiple daily injections. Once in college, he had learned about the tubeless Omnipod pump and looping with a continuous glucose monitor which he still uses today with his Dexcom CGM.  

Garrett decided in 2023 to attempt his very first endurance race of any kind and participated in a qualifying race for the Catalina Classic. What he didn’t know was that the 2023 race would laster be described by other racers as ”32 miles of torture!” Many of the racers had even called it quits after the first hour of paddling. Support boat crews struggled to see their racers in the 6 foot swell and many of the photographers and support crew vomited their way across the channel with sea sickness. 

As the paddle boarders are prohibited from touching or hanging on to the support boats following alongside Garrett’s father would control his insulin doses from his Omnipod controller on board the boat and pass him nutrition using long fishing nets on poles. He would also pass Garrett his blood sugar testing kit a few times throughout the race. He sat atop his paddle board rocking back and forth in the middle of the Pacific Ocean poking his finger and applying the small drop of blood to a test strip to determine his blood sugar. 

Unfortunately, due to the rough conditions and the overexertion of paddling his giant paddle board through the tumultuous seas, Garrett could not keep his food down and vomited into the ocean after taking his bolus of insulin. As any diabetic knows, losing the food you’ve eaten after taking insulin can lead to panic inducing low blood sugar levels. Garrett made several attempts to eat more food, but would vomit each time. The support crew, including Garrett’s father, his uncles Dennis and Stephen, and his cousin Chad, remained concerned as he pushed on towards the California coastline.

Finally, after reaching the Palos Verdes stretch of coast and the San Vicente lighthouse on the mainland, Garrett stated he was able to “eat a cracker!” Again, not exactly an ideal situation for a type 1 Diabetic. At this point in the race he still had another 10 miles to go and was already a solid 8 hours in. Race organizers had begun contacting support crews over the radio to advise of the race cutoff time and they advised all racers to stop. This is the section of the course where paddlers are typically paddling against the current, reducing their speed by half. From my brief conversation with Garrett I get the feeling that quitting is not in his nature, so he pressed on for an additional 3 hours until reaching the finish line at Manhattan Beach.