September 29, 2023
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The Best Open Water Swimmers from 1950 to 2020

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Who are among the best open water swimmers in history? Who are considered legends, icons, heroes, heroines, and historic figures in the sport? Every fan has their favorite swimmers.

Any list of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the Decade is, by necessity, subjective. But it is certainly fun to discuss and debate among open water swimming historians, fans, and fellow swimmer. Below are our choices for the Best Open Water Swimmers between the decades from the 1950’s to the 2010’s.

This selection of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the Decade is based on four criteria with the following priority:

  1. Champions – or swimmers who won major international races against the best swimmers of their era
  2. Pioneers – or swimmers who completed unprecedented extreme swims of any distance in any location and at any water temperatures or conditions
  3. Record Holders – or swimmers who set records across channels, lakes, seas, either in competition or on a solo swim
  4. Endurers – or swimmers who swam for distance in any open body of water at various temperatures

That is, if a Champion is compared to a Pioneer, with all other things being equal, the Champion was given more weight in this subjective list. Similarly, if a Pioneer is compared to a Record Holder, with all other things being equal, the Pioneer is given placed higher in this subjective list. If a Record Holder is compared to an Endurer, with all things being equal, the Record Holder is considered slightly higher than the Endurer in this subjective list.

Historical note: Up until 1991, men and women competed head-to-head against one another on the World Professional Marathon Swimmers Federation and the International Marathon Swimming Association.

Of course, if this subjective criteria were ordered differently (e.g., if Record Holders or Endurers carried more weight than Champions or Pioneers), then the ordering would undoubtedly be different – and so would many of the listed swimmers. This is, some would rise higher in the list and others would fall lower in the list or be replaced by others.

That being said, many swimmers on this list of the 1950’s proved themselves over their careers as a Champion, a Pioneer, a Record Holder, and an Endurer. Additionally, many swimmers competed in more than one decade. Because there are so many worthy candidates, each swimmer was honored in only one decade, that decade of their prime performances.

This list only includes solo and competitive swimmers. It includes swimmers – of both genders and of any age – who specialize in channel swimming, marathon swimming, extreme swimming, stage swimming, high-altitude swimming, ice swimming, and winter swimming in lakes, bays, rivers, oceans, seas, reservoirs, lochs, fjords, canals, and carved-out pool in frozen bodies of water. This list does not include pilots, coaches, authors, race directors, documentary filmmakers, seconds, crew members, or administrators. These individuals will be included in a follow-up series, The Best Open Water Swimming Personalities of the Decade, that will be subsequently published.

Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1950’s

Others include Florence Chadwick, USA, Tom Blower, Great Britain, Willy van Rysel, Netherlands, and Helge Jensen, Denmark.

The highlights of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1950’s are shown below:

Cliff Lumsdon is a dual inductee: an International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honour Swimmer, inducted in 1969 and an International Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer, inducted in 2014. He was a five-time world champion between 1949 and 1954 and was known for his ability to swim in cold water, once going 51.5 km in 18-plus hours in water temperatures ranging between 8.8° – 11.1°C (48°F – 52°F). He won $84,000 for his 1955 Canadian National Exhibition swim, winning it four times.

Tom Park qualified for the 1940 Olympics thatt were cancelled due to World War II. He was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968 as an Honor Swimmer. He won the first 41.8 km Around-the-Island Marathon Swim around Atlantic City in 1954 in 9 hours 21 minutes and crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel in 1954 in 13 hours 25 minutes – setting a record. In 1955, he won the 37 km Atlantic City Around The Island Swim and finished 2nd in the 1955 Billy Butlin Cross Channel International Swim from France to England in 12 hours 2 minutes.

Greta Andersen is a dual inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Class of 1964) and the International Swimming Hall of Fame (Class of 1969) as an double Olympic medalist. She won 7 Atlantic City Around the Island Swims and crossed the English Channel five times, winning the Billy Butlin Cross Channel International Swims in 1957 and 1958 and winning the women’s event from 1957 to 1959. She completed a double-crossing of the English Channel and became the first person to complete a double crossing of the Catalina Channel in 1958 in 26 hours 53 minutes.

Alfredo Camarero was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1978. He twice swam the English Channel, winning the 1959 Billy Butlin Cross Channel International Swim from France to England in 11 hours 43 minutes. He won the 33 km 1955 and 1956 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, the 1957 Around The Island Swim in Atlantic City over Tom Park and Greta Andersen.

Hassan Abdel Rehim was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1966 and swam the English Channel four times. He won the 1950 Daily Mail Race across the English Channel at the age of 41, a father of six children. He finished 3rd in the 1951 Daily Mail Race.

Mareeh Hassan Hamad completed 3 crossings of the English Channel, winning the 1951 Daily Mail race in 12 hours 12 minutes, swimming without goggles, and the 1954 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy.

Brenda Fisher, BEM won the 47 km 1956 River Nile Swim in Egypt, finished third in the 1956 51 km Lake Ontario crossing. She was the first female finisher at the 1951 Billy Butlin Cross Channel International Swim across the English Channel, placing fifth overall in 12 hours 42 minutes, breaking the previous women’s record of Florence Chadwick in 1950. She finished third overall and was the first women in the 1954 Billy Butlin Cross Channel International Swim.

Marilyn Bell Di Lascio was the first person to swim across Lake Ontario in 1954, after becoming the 1st woman in the 1954 Atlantic City Centennial Swim, a 42 km inaugural race around Atlantic City. She was the first woman in the 1955 Atlantic City Around-the-Island Swim at the age of 16. She swam the English Channel at the age of 17 and swam the Strait of Juan de Fuca in 1956 from Washington state to British Columbia. She is a dual inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Class of 1967) and International Swimming Hall of Fame (Class of 2020).

Brojen Das was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1965. He was the first Asian to swim the English Channel in 1958, crossing six times to become King of the Channel® from 1960 to 1974, setting four records in the process. He also held the record for the fastest crossing for three years and competed in the Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli.

Antonio Abertondo was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1964, crossing the English Channel five times.

Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1960’s

Ted Erikson, USA, Barrie Devenport, New Zealand, Brenda Sherratt, Great Britain, Imre Szénási, Hungary, Regent LaCoursiere, Canada, and Barry Watson, Great Britain.

The highlights of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1960’s are shown below:

Abdellatief Abou Heif (shown above) is a dual inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1964 and in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1998. He is widely considered to be the best marathon swimmer of the 20th century, competing from 1948 to 1965 including winning the longest (86.5 km) pro race in Lake Michigan in 24 hours 42 minutes. He competed in 58 races where he won 45 titles in water temperatures between 12-28.8°C in France, Italy, USA, Canada, Argentina, Lebanon, England, Yugoslavia, Mexico and Holland. He won the 1951 Billy Butlin Cross Channel International Swim and was the 1965, 1966, and 1969 World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation champion.

Herman Willemse is a dual inductee in International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fameand He was the first champion of the World Professional Marathon Swimmers Federation in 1963. He won the 24 km Canadian National Exhibition race in 1961 and 1962, and won 36.2 km Atlantic City Around-the-Island Swim five times from 1960 to 1964. He won the 45 km Mar del Plata race in Argentina, the 42 km race in the Suez Canal in Egypt in 1964, the 88 km Maratón Internacional Hernandarias – Parana in Argentina.

Judith van Berkel-de Nijs is a dual inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1964 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014. She ranked No. 1 by the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation between 1964 and 1968 and on 1970. She crossed the English Channel in 1969 and won many professional marathon races over both men and women, including the 1964 49.8 km Lake Ontario swim in Canada, 1965 30.5 km Ohrid Lake race in Macedonia, the 1965 and 1967 32 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy, the 1965 40 km Alexandrium race in the Suez Canal in Egypt, the 1966 32 km Traversée Internationale du Lac St-Jean in Canada, the 1967 16 km Hamilton Marathon Swim in Canada, the 1968 24 Heures La Tuque in Canada, and the 1968 Canalswim Cape Rennes from France to Dover, England in 12 hours 15 minutes.

Horacio Bernardo Guillermo Iglesias was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He was the 4-time World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation world champion and 2-time runner-up. He won the 24 Heures La Tuque relay swim six times with three different partners, including Egypt’s Abou Heif and Holland’s Judith DeNys. He won the Traversée internationale du Lac St-Jean 5 times, the 42.9 km America’s Marathon Swim in Rhode Island, the 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy, the 1964 Saint-Félicien Lac Race in Canada, the 35 km Ohrid Lake Swimming Marathon in Yugoslavia in 1962, and the 44 km Suez Canal International Race in Egypt.

Captain Nabil Elshazly was a 4-time world champion in the early 1960’s and is inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in its Class of 2020. He is acknowledged throughout the Middle East as the godfather of open water swimming. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, he traveled the world and raised two sons who were also successful professional marathon swimmers, Nasser Elshazly and Osama Elshazly.

Giulio Travaglio is inducted of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1966. He won the 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy five times (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970) and served as chairman until his passing. He was the 1966 champion of the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation, and won the Crossing of The Gulf of Salerno, the Double-Crossing of the Procida Channel, the Torre Annunziata open water swim, the Mare Morto from Baia Bacoli to Naples Crossing, the S. Martino Oxbow Swim in Naples, and the Traversata dello Stretto.

Linda McGill MBE was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968. After her Olympic career, she became the first Australian complete an English Channel crossing – that she two more times. Her third crossing set a women’s record that stood for eight years. She won the women’s division of the 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy and competed several unprecedented marathon swims during her career.

Mary Martha Sinn was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1963. She finished second overall in the 24 km Canadian National Exposition in Lake Ontario in 1963. In the 1962 CNE race, she was first female and 5th overall. She was the first woman in the 36 km Around the Island Swim in Atlantic City in 1964. She swam a professional marathon swim in the Suez Canal in Egypt as well as several other professional races including a win in Three Rivers, winning the 1963 World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation title.

Commander Charles Gerald Forsberg OBE, RN was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1965 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1998. He wrote two seminal books on marathon swimming and served as the long-time President of the Channel Swimming Association between 1963 and 1997. He competed in 211 long distance swims, logging 2,021 km (in championship swims, all performed without a swim cap. He was one of three original selectors of the Marathon Swimming Foundation and Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.

Carlos Larriera was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1969. He planned and help organize the inaugural 57 km Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda while winning the first and second editions in 1961 and 1962, and finishing fourth in the 1963 edition and fifth in the 1965 edition. he finished second in the 32 km Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean in 1960 in Canada. He was second in 1964 40 km Alexandria Marathon in Egypt and fourth in the 1965 Maratón Hernandarias-Paraná in Argentina.

Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1970’s

Others include Diana Nyad, USA, John York, USA, and Dennis Matuch, USA.

The highlights of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1970’s are shown below:

John Kinsella was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1978 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1986. He dominated the professional marathon swimming circuit in the 1970’s, winning the 32 km Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. He won every major professional marathon swimming race he entered, twice winning the 24 Heures La Tuque with Sandra Bucha in 1974 and 1975. He also won the 1978 Pepsi Challenge Marathon Swim in Lake Ontario and the 1978 57 km Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda in Argentina.

Veljko Rogošić was a 2-time Olympic pool swimmer for Yugoslavia and was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1998. He won the 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973 marathons in Italian Ricconeu. He won the world championships in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974 at the Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy. He was the first winner of the 1976 Faros Maratón.
He finished second to John Kinsella in the 1974 Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada. In 1975, he was the first person to complete a 54 km crossing from the Adriatic island of Vis to Split, Croatia.

Penny Lee Dean PhD was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1980 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1996. She set the overall records across the English Channel in 7 hours 40 minutes in 1978, the still-unbroken crossing of the Catalina Channel in 7 hours 15 minutes in 1976, and the double crossing of the Catalina Channel in 20 hours 3 minutes in 1977.

Sandra Bucha was inducted by the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2013. She won the 24 Heures La Tuque in 1974 and was on the cover of Swimming World Magazine in 1969. Between 1973 and 1975, she was the female winner in the 9 professional marathon races she entered. Only three males finished ahead of her in her in nine marathon races with six 2nd overall finishes.

Kevin Murphy is a dual inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He has swum 34 English Channel crossings, the second most in history and the greatest for a male. He set the record for crossing the North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland.

Cynthia Nicholas, CM was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1978 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame. She became the fastest swimmer to cross Lake Ontario at the age of 16. She crossed the English Channel 19 times including five two-way crossings. She set a two-way record in 1982 and an England-France record of 8 hours 21 minutes on the first leg of her in 1981 two-way crossing. In 1976, she was named the world’s top woman marathon swimmer for a season that included two one-way crossings across the English Channel.

Johannes Schans was a 1968 Olympian who finished second in the 1969 Le Marathon du Saguenay, second in the 1969 24 Heures La Tuque, his second professional marathon swim, and second in the Traversée internationale du Lac St-Jean. He won the 1970 Hamilton Marathon Race in Canada and the 30 km Syria race. He was second in America’s Marathon Swim in Rhode Island and was ranked first in the 1970 World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation circuit. He won the 1971, 1972, and 1973 24 Heures La Tuque, all with Horacio Iglesias.

Michael Read, MBE was inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2011 and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1978. He crossed the English Channel 33 times between 1979 and 2005. He became the first person to complete a 3-way and 4-way swim of Windermere in 1972, the first person to swim Loch Tay in 1973, the first person to swim Loch Lomond twice, and completed the most English Channel crossings in one year by a man, 6 in 1979. He had the latest English Channel crossing in 1979.

Desmond Renford MBE was inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2016 and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1978. He was the King of the Channel® between 1975 and 1979 and was the first person complete three English Channel crossings in a year. He swam across the English Channel 19 times in 19 one-way attempts. He swam 93 km in Australia in 1974 in 27 hours 29 minutes.

Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1980’s

Others include Christine Cossette, Canada, Marc Newman, Great Britain, and Dr. Julie Bradshaw MBE, Great Britain.

The highlights of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1980’s are shown below:

Paul Asmuth was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1982 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2010. He won seven World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation titles between 1980 and 1985 and in 1988. He finished 59 professional marathon swims including winning the 24 Heures La Tuque with James Kegley, six Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog in Canada, 1988 Waikiki Roughwater Swim in Hawaii, pioneered the course from Nantucket to Cape Cod in Massachusetts in 1986.

Claudio Plit was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1981 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014. He won every major professional marathon swim around the world. He finished first or second nine times and finished in the top 4 in 45 professional marathon swims throughout North and South America, Europe and Africa. He completed in more than 250 marathon swims over 8 hours including winning the Traversée internationale du lac Memphremagog, the Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy 4 times, and in the Nile River and in the Suez Canal, and four two-way 64 km Traversée international du lac St-Jean races.

Lynne Cox was inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. She pioneered a 11.7 km swim across Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia in 1988. In 1985, she completed 12 swim in ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ project including the Five Lakes of Mount Fuji in Japan, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Strait of Messina. In 1987, she swam across the Bering Strait from Alaska to the Soviet Union.

Philip Rush was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1985, he set a two-way English Channel crossing record and completed the second three-way crossing of the English Channel in 1987. Along the way, he set the two-way crossing record in 16 hours 10 minutes. He completed ten English Channel crossings and 8 Cook Strait crossings and 4 two-way crossings of the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean.

Dr. Vicki Keith C.M., O. Ont., LLD, ChPC was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2004. In 1985, she completed a 100-hour swim in a pool and swam 19 km butterfly in Lake Ontario. In 1986, she completed a 129-hour swim in a pool, swam 45.6 km across Lake Ontario, swam the first 95 km two-way crossing of Lake Ontario in 56 hours 10 minutes, swam across all 5 Great Lakes in 1988: Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and Lake Ontario including 45.4 km of butterfly across Lake Ontario in 24 hours 44 minutes. In 1989, she crossed the 33.5 km English Channel swimming butterfly in 24 hours 44 minutes and across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Lake Winnipeg, and Catalina Channel, all butterfly.

Monique Blok-Wildschut was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1994 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2016. She dominated the women’s marathon swimming professional circuit when she was the six-time World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation champion from 1984-1988. She finished 2nd overall in the 1989 64 km Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean. She won the 1984 Around the Island Atlantic City Marathon Swim.

Irene van der Laan was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1985 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2015. She was the first person to win the Rolex watch two times for the fastest crossings in the English Channel of the Year in 1982 and 1984. She completed a two-way English Channel crossing in 1984, setting a new record. She competed in the 64 km (40-mile) Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean in 1986, 1987, and 1988.

Jon Erikson was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1981 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014. He completed 11 English Channel crossings including the first three-way crossing in 1981 in 38 hours 27 minutes. He race in three 24 Heures La Tuque two English-to-France crossings in 1980.

Alison Streeter MBE was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1985 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame. She crossed the English Channel 43 times. She swam the English Channel seven times in one year and is the fastest woman from France to England. She was the first woman to swim across the North Channel.

Taranath Narayan Shenoy was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1986. He
completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming by completing the English Channel, Catalina Channel and Manhattan Island Marathon Swim. In 1981, he was the first deaf person to cross the Palk Strait, the first deaf person to cross the Suez Canal, the Nile River, complete the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, complete a Catalina Channel crossing, complete a Strait of Gibraltar crossing, the Strait of Dardanelles crossing, and the Cook Strait crossing.

Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1990’s

Others include Igor de Souza, Brazil, David O’Brien, OAM, Australia, Karen Burton Reed, USA, and Tamara Bruce, Australia.

The highlights of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1990’s are shown below:

Shelley Taylor-Smith [shown above] was inducted in both the International Swimming Hall of Fame (2009) and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (1989). She was a 7-time world professional marathon swimming champion and won the inaugural FINA World 25 km Championship in 1990. In 1995, she set the record for the 48 km Manhattan Island Marathon Swim and earned an unprecedented overall No.1 ranking on the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation circuit for both men and women in 1991. She finished second overall in the Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog and Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean. She won overall the Atlantic City Around-the-Island Swim in 1991 and 1992. She swam 90 km in Australia in a shark cage to break Des Renford’s course record in 1995.

Aleksey Akatyev was an Olympic pool swimmer who was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2009. He won the 5 km and 25 km races at the 1998 FINA World Championships and a 25 km bronze at the 1994 FINA World Championships.

Chad Hundeby was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1996 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2012. He won the 25 km title at the 1991 FINA World Championships. In 1991, 1993 and 1994 he was the overall point leader in the IMSA or FINA World Series pro circuit. In 1994, he set the English Channel record in 7 hours 17 minutes, breaking the record held by Penny Dean in 7 hours 40 minutes that had stood since 1978.

Greg Streppel was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1996. He won the 1991 Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog in Canada and finished third in the 1992 Sylvan Lake World Series Marathon Swim in Canada. He won the 25 km gold medal at the 1994 FINA World Championships. He won 11 FINA World Cup marathon swimming races in Argentina, Mexico, and Italy and the 1994 and 1995 Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda in Argentina. Between 1992 and 1995, he won every FINA open water swimming race he entered and won 14 of the last 16 races of his career.

Peggy Büchse was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2003. She won 14 races on the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup professional marathon swimming circuit. She won the 25 km Salvador de Bahia professional marathon swim in Brazil, the 57 km Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda in Argentina, and the Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog in Canada. She finished second in the 25 km and third in the 5 km at the 1998 FINA World Championships in Australia.

Susie Maroney OAM was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2005. She crossed the English Channel in 8 hours 29 minutes at the age of 15 and set the record for a female two-way crossing of the English Channel at the age of 16. She won the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in 1990 and 1994. She swam 180 km across from Cuba to Florida in a shark cage in 1997 in 24 hours 31 minutes, swam 197 km from Mexico to Cuba in 38 hours 33 minutes in 1998, and swam 190 km from Jamaica to Cuba in 36 hours in 1999 in a shark cage and a stinger suit.

Diego Degano was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995. He won the 1991 Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada, won the 1992 Sylvan Lake World Series Marathon Swim in Canada, won the 1992 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy, finished second in the 1992 Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean and second in the 1990 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli. He won the 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1993 Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda in Argentina.

David Alleva, PhD was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1992. He won the 1995 and 1996 Boston Light Swim, won the 1990 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, and finished second in the 40 Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada.

Tammy van Wisse was twice swam to podium positions at the Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, swam unprecedented courses throughout Australia, was the fastest person across the English Channel in 1993, won the 1997 Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, set the overall record across the Cook Strait in 1999, across Loch Ness in 1999 and across the Bass Strait in 1996, and finished 6th in the 1991 25 km world championships.

Gustavo Oriozabala was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001. He finished second on the professional marathon swimming circuit in 1992 and third in 1995. He finished second in the 1986 Maratón Acuática Internacional Ciudad de Rosario in Argentina. He completed a 180 km crossing of Parana River in Argentina in 20 hours 6 minutes, a two-way crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar, a 28.8 km two-way crossing of the Strait of Magellan (Estrecho de Magallanes) in 2001 to become the first person to complete the original Triple Corona Sudamericana, a crossing of the Beagle Channel in 1996, a three-way crossing of the Beagle Channel in 1998, a 20 km crossing of Lake Titicaca in 1998 from Peru to Bolivia at 4,915m altitude.

Best Open Water Swimmers of the 2000’s

Others include Keri-Anne Payne, Great Britain, Natalie du Toit, OIG, MBE, South Africa, Viola Valli, Italy, Christof Wandratsch, Germany, Stéphane Lecat, France, Marcy MacDonald, USA.

The highlights of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 2000’s are shown below:

Thomas Lurz was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019. He won the bronze medal in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2008 Olympics, won the 2005 LEN Open Water Cup series, won the 10 km marathon swim at the 2004 FINA World Championships gold in the 5 km and silver in the 10 km at the 2005 FINA World Championship, gold in the 5 km and the 10 km at the 2006 FINA World Championships, gold in the 5 km at the 2008 FINA Open Water Swimming Championships, gold in the 10 km at the 2009 World Championships, a bronze in the 5 km at the 2002 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships.

Larisa Dmitriyevna Ilchenko (Russian: Лариса Дмитриевна Ильченко) was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2016. She won the 2008 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Beijing and eight FINA World Championships titles between 2005 and 2008 in the 5 km and 10 km distances.

Maarten van der Weijden is the only leukemia cancer survivor to win an Olympic gold medal and was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2011 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in 2016. In 2004, he swam across the IJsselmeer, breaking the record at the Ijseelmeerzwemmarathon by almost 15 minutes to collect 50,000 euros which he donated for cancer research. He won 4 FINA World Cup competitions in the UAE and Argentina. He won the 25 km and a bronze medal at the 5 km race at the 2008 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships.

Yuri Kudinov (Russian Юрий Кудинов) was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2007, he missed the world record for the fastest swim across the English Channel in 7 hours 5 minutes, history’s third fastest crossing. He won the 25 km at the 2000 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Hawaii, the 25 km at the 2001 FINA World Championships in Japan, the 25 km at the 2002 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Egypt, the 25 km at the 2007 FINA World Championships in Australia, and the 25 km at the 2003 FINA World Championships in Spain. He finished second in the 25 km at the 2004 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships, finished 9th in the 25 km at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Canada, finished second in the 25 km at the 2006 FINA World Championships, and finished third in the 25 km at the 2008 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Spain.

Edith van Dijk, PhD was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2006 and is a Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau, holding a Doctorate from Erasmus University in the Netherlands. She crossed the English Channel in 9 hours 8 minutes in 2004. She won the 10 km and 25 km in the 2000 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships. She won a bronze in the 5 km and a gold in the 10 km and 25 km at the 2005 FINA World Swimming Championships. She won the 2001 88 km Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda. She won a silver in the 5 km and 25 km at the 2002 World Open Water Swimming Championships. She won a bronze in the 10 km and a gold in the 25 km at the 2004 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships. She also won the 2000, 2001 and 2005 FINA World Cup series when she won swims in Argentina, Macedonia, Canada, England, Egypt. She was the oldest competitor who qualified for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Lewis Pugh, OIG serves as the United Nations Patron of the Oceans and was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2004, he completed a 5 km swim in Finland, pioneered a 12 km swim around Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, completed a 100 km stage swim around Cape Peninsula in 14 days, pioneered 204 km stage swim in Norway in 21 days. He completed a 1 km swim in Antarctica in 0°C water, a 1.6 km in the South Shetland islands in 2005 and the Five Oceans in 2006. He completed a 1.25 km swim in Nigards Glacier Lake, Norway in 0°C and pioneered a 450 km stage swim down the River Thames in 21 days in 2006 and pioneered a 140 km stage swim in Maldive Islands and a 1 km swim across the Geographic North Pole in in -1.6°C water.

Angela Maurer was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2009 and finished fourth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics marathon swim. She won the 25 km swim at the 2009 FINA World Championships and won 7 other FINA World Championships medals. She won the women’s division at the Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog.

Britta Kamrau was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2009, winning 25 FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup and FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix races. She won the 2007 FINA World Championships 25 km race, a silvers in the 2003 FINA World Championships 25 km race and 2005 FINA World Championships 25 km race as well as bronzes in the 2005 FINA World Championships 10 km and the 2003 FINA World Championships 5 km races. She was the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup champion in 2003 and 2006.

Martin Strel was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014. He completed stage swims along the length of the Danube River (505 km in 58 hours), the Mississippi River (3885 km in 68 days), the Yangtze River (4,003 km in 51 days), Paraná River (1,930 km), and the Amazon River (5268 km in 66 days).

Yvetta Hlaváčová was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. She crossed the English Channel 3 times including in 2006 in 7 hours 25 minutes (women’s record). She swam down the Vlata River in 2007 for 138 km in 7 days and upstream in 2008 for 142 km in water down to 8.3°C at times. She won the 2002 FINA World Cup in Egypt and raced in marathon swims in 20 countries, winning the 25 km team bronze in the 2004 FINA World Championships.

Best Open Water Swimmers of the 2010’s

Others include Ous Mellouli, Tunisia, Trent Grimsey, Australia, Spiros Gianniotis, Greece, Martina Grimaldi, Italy, Pilar Geijo, Argentina, Poliana Okimoto, Brazil, Aleksandr Brylin, Russia, Andrey Sychev, Russia, Elizabeth Fry, USA, Stephen Redmond, Ireland, Ger Kennedy, Ireland, Jacques Tuset, France.

The highlights of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 2010’s are shown below:

Petar Stoychev (Bulgarian: Петър Стойчев) was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2008, the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2018, and the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame in 2020. He is King of the Ice of the International Ice Swimming Association. He won both the Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean and the Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog 11 times and was the first person to break 7 hours across the English Channel. He won the 25 km race at the 2011 FINA World Championships in China and was the winner of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit for 11 straight years. He set the Ice Kilometer world record and won the Antarctica Ice Kilometer Swim in -1.4°C water and completed an Ice Kilometer in -1°C water and -10.0°C air in Norway.

Ana de Jesus Soares da Cunha was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019. She won the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and was the FINA Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year in 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. She won the FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. She won the FINA UltraMarathon Swim Series in 2011, 2015, 2016, and 2018. She won 13 medals at the FINA World Championships in the 5 km, 10 km and 25 km races.

Sarah Thomas was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2018. She pioneered a 134 km English Channel four-way crossing in 54 hours 10 minutes in 2019. She completed an Ice Mile in 4.57°C water and -1.10°C air in 2015. She pioneered two-way crossings of Lake Tahoe in 2013 in 22 hours and across Lake Memphremagog in Vermont in 30 hours, the Triple Crown of Lake Monster Swims. She completed 128.7 km crossing of Lake Powell in 2016 in 56 hours. She won the 2015 58 km END-WET down the Red River of the North in North Dakota. She pioneered a 168.3 km swim in Lake Champlain in 67 hours 16 minutes.

Jaimie Monahan is an Ice Ironwoman and became the first person to achieve the Ice Sevens Challenge. She was inducted of the International Marathon Swimming in 2018 and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019. She is the Queen of Manhattan Island with 29 circumnavigation swims. She was the first female Ice Zero Swimmer of the International Ice Swimming Association. She completed a 69 km swim across Lake Geneva in 28 hours 36 minutes and completed a 7.5 km swim in Lake Titicaca in 2016.

Sharon van Rouwendaal was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2022. She won the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a silver in the 10 km and 5 km relay at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. She won silver in the 25 km at the 2017 FINA World Championships She was named Swimming World Magazine’s Open Water Swimmer of the Year in 2014 and 2016.

Ferry Weertman won the 2016 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He won
the 15 km FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix in 2014 and silvers in the 2015 FINA World Championships 10 km and 5 km team pursuit. He won the gold in the 10 km at the 2017 FINA World Championships.

Éva Risztov won the 2012 London Olympic 10K Marathon Swim and competed on the FINA World Cup series.

Ram Barkai created the International Ice Swimming Association and was inducted in the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019, completing 12 Ice Kilometers and 12 Ice Miles and was the first to complete a Zero Ice Mile. He completed swims in the Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee, Robben Island, Cape Point, Bering Strait, Lake Baikal, Iceland, Antarctica, and Norway. He organized and swam the Patagonia Extreme Cold Water Challenge: 4 km in the Beagle Channel, a 2.5 km double crossing of the Strait of Magellan in 8°C water, and 2.5 km swim around Cape Horn. He swam 1 km in 0.2°C water in Norway’s Folgefonna Glacier in 2012 and did an Ice Kilometer in Siberia in 0°C water. He organized the inaugural International Ice Swimming Championship and participated in the Bering Strait Crossing.

Henri Kaarma was inducted in the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019 and is an Ice Zero Swimmer. He is the event director of the Estonian Ice Swimming Championships. He swam on the 6-day Bering Strait Swim relay and set a record in swimming 2,400 meters at 0.8ºC in 2014 in Russia. He completed an Ice Mile in 0.30°C water and -33.00°C air in 2012. He finished third in the Ice Kilometer at the 2015 Ice Swimming World Championship.

Chloë McCardel was inducted in the Ice Swimming Hall of Fame and swam 124 km in 41 hours 21 minutes in the Bahamas. She has completed 44 English Channel crossings to become the Queen of the Channel®. She won the 2010 Manhattan Island Marathon Swim and coached numerous swimmers across the English Channel.

Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, cautioned, “Most of these swimmers are honorees of the IMSHOF. Once inducted, the IMSHOF does not further ‘rank’ its inductees.”

© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture past the shoreline“

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