Seth Baetzold loves swimming 58 km along the Red River of the North from the state of North Dakota to Minnesota in the annual Extreme North Dakota Watersports Endurance Test (END-WET) race.
In 2023, he finished in 9 hours 51 minutes, second to Michael Rice. In 2022, he finished in 8 hours 34 minutes, third to Jamie Proffitt and Karen Zemlin. In 2021, he finished in 13 hours 33 minutes, third to Sarah Thomas and Marian Cardwell. In 2019, he finished in 10 hours 21 minutes, second to Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist.
But on June 15th, the 29-year-old Baetzold crossed the finish line first, completing the swim in 9 hours 14 minutes while escorted by veteran kayaker Brian Huschle.
One of the longest competitive open water swims in the Americas, the 58 km END-WET river swim that runs along the Red River from the state of North Dakota to Minnesota.
2024 Results
- Seth Baetzold (29) 9 hours 14 minutes
- Cheryl Reinke (59) 9 hours 45 minutes
- Relay Team 9 hours 50 minutes
- Mike Miller (58) 11 hours 12 minutes
- Gerald George 11 hours 29 minutes
- Scott Swanson 11 hours 29 minutes
- John Batchelder (43) 11 hours 37 minutes
Historic END-WET Male & Female Winners
- 2012 (43.5 km): Darren Miller 9 hours 11 minutes, Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist 9 hours 15 minutes
- 2013 (43.5 km): Karen Zemlin 6 hours 58 minutes, Bob Naylor 7 hours 22 minutes
- 2014 (58 km): Kevin Kopplin 8 hours 38 minutes, Kathleen Wilson 9 hours 9 minutes
- 2015 (58 km): Sarah Thomas 9 hours 43 minutes, William Leonard 9 hours 53 minutes
- 2016 (58 km): Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist 10 hours 44 minutes, Jeff Utsch 11 hours 13 minutes
- 2017 (58 km): Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist 10 hours 33 minutes, Arlo Lorenz 13 hours 48 minutes
- 2018 (58 km): Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist 9 hours 40 minutes, Stephen Rouch 10 hours 35 minutes
- 2019 (58 km): Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist 9 hours 21 minutes, Seth Baetzold 10 hours 21 minutes
- 2020: no race held
- 2021 (58 km): Sarah Thomas 13 hours 4 minutes, Seth Baetzold 13 hours 10 minutes
- 2022 (58 km): Jamie Proffitt 8 hours 32 minutes, Karen Zemlin 8 hours 33 minutes (shown above)
- 2023 (58 km): Michael Rice 9 hours 25 minutes, Linda Simons 10 hours 38 minutes
- 2024 (58): Seth Baetzold 9 hours 14 minutes, Cheryl Reinke 9 hours 45 minutes
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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