Susanne Guesdon, a Treasure from Tasmania
What were you doing in 1966?
Beginning in 1966, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Administrator (Class of 2019) Susanne Guesdon was volunteering for open water swimming events in her native Australia including the 1968 40 km Port Philip Bay Big Swim, a national selection marathon swim for the Australian team where the swimmers competed in shark cages.
A rookie back in 1966, Guesdon is now a 57-year veteran of the sport.
Along her travels around Australia and the world, Guesdon has met many of the greatest open water swimmers in history, from Des Renford and Linda McGill, MBE to John Kinsella and Sandra Bucha to Shelley Taylor-Smith and Melissa Cunningham to Petar Stoychev and Stéphane Lecat, and Ray Scott and Audrey Scott. She has been part of the International Long Distance Swimming Federation Maratona del Golfo Capri Napoli World Championship (1975), the English Channel Arab Nations Race (1977), Le Marathon de 24 Heures de La Tuque in Canada (1970’s), the FINA World Championships (1991), and FINA World Cups around the world over the decades. She has served as a coach, handler, team manager, escort pilot, event organizer, and administrator.
In addition to her IMSHOF honor, she also received the Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019 for her contribution to the administration of open water swimming. She is a member of the Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Class of 2020) and a nurse, Guesdon reminisced about her long, unsung career with IMSHOF Chairperson Ned Denison:
As she said, “The sport is in a good place and that fills me with joy.”
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© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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Inspirational, Sue. I remember in 1966 going to Portsea to (hopefully) see the start of the “Big Swim” Linda McGill was competing, unfortunately the event was cancelled that night due to bad weather. Great that you made a Volutary career & gave so much to the Sport.