Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, announced Joseph Zemaitis of the USA (@joe.zemaitis) as an Honor Swimmer in its Class of 2025.

Zemaitis simply swims. A lot. Anywhere and everywhere. Warm and cold. Tranquil and turgid. Night and day. Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere. With his brother and solo.

He travels to swims by airplane, ferry, skiff, car, and motorhome.

As fellow IMSHOF Honor Swimmer David Barra has notably said, “If something is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.”

“One can say that Joe overdoes things. But he does so many marathon swims with such joyful humility and an infectious spirit,” says Steven Munatones. “Joe motivates everyone around him. But how he does all these swims is beyond me. Where does he find the time and energy? I simply cannot fathom what he does any given day, let alone over the course of a year.

If we just take his dryland activities as the head coach of one of the top club swimming teams in America – Swim Neptune – he is incredibly successful and one of the finest young coaches of America. Joe not only coaches some of the fastest young swimmers in the pool in America, but he also introduces them to open water swimming and ice swimming – while living in the desert of Arizona.

He is not only a true aquapreneur, but he is also very importantly an inspiration to his young swimmers – and to all the older adults who he outswims, literally by miles and miles.

His marathon swimming portfolio over the last 11 years is like a glossary of all the greatest channel crossings, lake marathons, and river swims in the world. But what was made Joe – and his brother younger brother John Zemaitis – so uniquely special was their Ultimate Swim-a-Thon that they performed in the summer of 2022. They swam 50 marathon swims over 24 days across all 50 states of the United States. The Swim Brothers (@swimbrothersusa) carefully and strategically planned this 25-day adventure that ultimately took a cumulative time of 164 hours 15 minutes while covering 521 kilometers – together with the assistance of Steve Mingalia, Brandon Johnson,  Wendy Kolberg, Jeff Moessinger, Tom Linthicum, Alex Webster,  Braxton Bilbrey, Roric Fink, Steve Bilbrey, Jerry George, Jacqui Lockwood, and Henry Palmer.

Their Ultimate Swim-a-Thon (or their 50 States Tour documented on Marathon Swimmers Federation here) was arguably the most complicated logistical plan for any marathon swim in history, but then again Joe and John completed tandem marathon swim of 10 km or greater on six different continents in fewer than 5 days on their 6 Continents Tour observed by Evan Morrison. Both their domestic tour and their international tour required a tight travel schedule with precise timing and coordination with local volunteers, escort pilots, support crew, land coordinators (including taxi drivers and recreational vehicle drivers), and airline pilots.

Crossing national boundaries and state borders, and dealing with many time zone changes are simply another set of factors that plays into their planning equations.”

The 25 Days of the Ultimate Swim-a-Thon

• Day 1 (20 July 2022), Swim 1: 10.2 km from Makaha Beach to Keawaula Beach on Oahu,  Hawaii
• Day 2 (21 July 21st), Swim 2: 10.33 km in Big Lake, City of Anchorage in the State of Alaska
• Day 3 (22 July 22nd), Swim 3: 10.41 km in Lake Tahoe, City of Reno in the State of Nevada
• Day 3 (22 July 22nd), Swim 4: 10.06 km in Lake Tahoe in the State of California
• Day 4 (23 July 23rd), Swim 5: 17.16 km in the Willamette River, Portland in the State of Oregon
• Day 4 (23 July 23rd), Swim 6: 10.32 km in Yale Lake in the State of Washington
• Day 5 (24 July 24th), Swim 7: 10.00 km in Coeur d’Alene in the State of Idaho
• Day 5 (24 July 24th), Swim 8: 10.43 km in Flathead Lake, City of Elmo in the State of Montana
• Day 6 (July 25th), Swim 9: 10.38 km in Lake de Smet, City of Sheridan in the State of Wyoming
• Day 6 (July 25th), Swim 10: 10.30 km in Belle Fourche Dam in the State of South Dakota
• Day 7 (July 26th), Swim 11: 10.35 km in Lake Ashtabula, Valley City in the State of North Dakota
• Postponed due to Lightning: Day 7 (July 26th), Swim 12: 10.08 km in Lake Minnewaska, Glenwood in the State of Minnesota
• Postponed: Day 7 (July 26th), Swim 13: 10.05 km in Spirit Lake, City of Spirit Lake in the Iowa
• Day 8 (July 27th), Re-do Swim 12: 10.08 km in Lake Minnewaska, Glenwood in the Minnesota
• Day 8 (July 27th), Re-do Swim 13: 10.05 km in Spirit Lake, City of Spirit Lake in the Iowa
• Day 9 (July 28th), Swim 14: 10.22 km in Lake Michigan, City of Kenosha in the State of Wisconsin
• Day 9 (July 28th), Swim 15: 11.97 km in Lake Michigan, City of Waukegan in the State of Illinois
• Day 10 (July 29th), Swim 16: 10.08 km in Lake Michigan, Michigan City in the State of Indiana
• Day 10 (July 29th), Swim 17: 10.21 km in Lake Michigan, New Buffalo in the State of Michigan
• Day 11 (July 30th), Swim 18: 10.12 km in Lake Erie, City of Conneaut in the State of Ohio
• Day 11 (July 30th), Swim 19: 10.24 km in Lake Erie, City of Erie in the State of Pennsylvania
• Postponed: Day 11 (July 30th), Swim 20: 10.24 km in Lake Erie, City of Westfield in the State of New York
• Day 12 (July 31st), Swim 20: 10.24 km in Lake Champlain in the State of New York
• Days 12/13 (July 31st/August 1st), Swim 21: 10.20 km in Lake Champlain in the State of Vermont
• Day 13 (August 1st), Swim 22: 10.13 km in Lake Winnipesaukee in the State of New Hampshire
• Day 13 (August 1st), Swim 23: 10.08 km in Lake Sebago, City of South Casco in the State of Maine
• Day 14 (August 2nd), Swim 24: 10.16 km in Narragansett Bay in the State of Rhode Island
• Day 14 (August 2nd), Swim 25: 10.04 km in Buzzards Bay, Pocasset in the State of Massachusetts
• Day 14 (August 2nd), Swim 26: 10.08 km in Long Island Sound, Norwalk in the State of Connecticut
• Day 15 (August 3rd), Swim 27: 10.06 km in Silver Bay, City of Toms River in the State of New Jersey
• Day 15 (August 3rd), Swim 28: 10.18 km in Rehoboth Bay, Rehoboth Bay in the State of Delaware
• Day 16 (August 4th), Swim 29: 11.12 km in Eastern Bay, City of Stevensville in the State of Maryland
• Day 16 (August 4th), Swim 30: 10.46 km in Summersville Lake in the State of West Virginia
• Day 17 (August 5th), Swim 31: 10.62 km in Lake Wylie, Charlotte in the State of South Carolina
• Day 17 (August 5th), Swim 32: 10.43 km in Lake Norman, Denver in the State of North Carolina
• Day 18 (August 6th), Swim 33: 10.22 km in South Holston Lake, Bristol in the State of Virginia
• Day 18 (August 6th), Swim 34: 10.64 km in South Holston Lake, City of Bristol in the Tennessee
• Day 18 (August 6th), Swim 35: 10.44 km in Laurel River Lake, Morehead in the State of Kentucky
• Day 19 (August 7th), Swim 36: 10.62 km in Lake Burton, City of Clayton in that State of Georgia
• Day 19 (August 7th), Swim 37: 10.22 km in Lake Guntersville, Guntersville in the State of Alabama
• Day 20 (August 8th), Swim 38: 10.14 km in Choctawhatchee Bay, Destin in the State of Florida
• Day 20 (August 8th), Swim 39: 10.14 km in Bay St. Louis, Bay St. Louis in the State of Mississippi
• Day 21 (August 9th), Swim 40: 10.48 km in Toledo Bend Reservoir, Florein in the Louisiana
• Day 21 (August 9th), Swim 41: 10.16 km in Toledo Bend Reservoir, Fairmont in the State of Texas
• Day 21 (August 9th), Swim 42: 10.14 km in Broken Bow Lake, Broken Law in the State of Oklahoma
• Day 22 (August 10th), Swim 43: 10.26 km in Beaver Lake, Bentonville in the State of Arkansas
• Day 22 (August 10th), Swim 44: 10.58 km in Table Rock Lake, Branson in the State of Missouri
• Day 23 (August 11th), Swim 45: 10.09 km in Wilson Lake, City of Russell in the State of Kansas
• Day 23 (August 11th), Swim 46: 10.62 km in Harlan County Lake, Alma in the State of Nebraska
• Day 24 (August 12th), Swim 47: 10.30 km in Navajo Reservoir, Rio Arriba County in the New Mexico
• Day 24 (August 12th), Swim 48: 10.00 km in McPhee Reservoir, Fort Collins in the Colorado
• Day 25 (August 13th), Swim 49: 10.13 km in Lake Powell, Wahweap in the State of Utah
• Day 25 (August 13th), Swim 50: 10.38 km in Lake Powell in the State of Arizona

But Zemaitis’ feats go further. He has completed marathon swims in the world’s lowest  freshwater lake in the Sea of Galilee as well as a marathon swim in the world’s highest navigable lake at 3,800 meters in Lake Titicaca.

He also thrives in wide temperature ranges – from the very cold waters of the North Channel  between Northern Ireland and Scotland, and across Loch Ness in Scotland as well as doing a high-altitude Ice Mile and acclimating well enough in the very warm marathon swims across Tampa Bay, Florida and the 45 km of rough water in the Molokai Channel in Hawaii.

As Denison wrote for his IMSHOF induction, “Joe was the first to complete a 2-way SCAR Swim twice, the Round Trip Angel Island  twice, and holds the record for the longest lake swim (multi-segment) of 112 km miles in Roosevelt Lake in 47 hours 23 minutes, set the speed records in the 2-way 41 km crossing of the Sea of Galilee in Israel, counterclockwise Round Trip Angel Island, and clockwise around Manhattan Island in New York City, completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming and won the 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim, 91.8 km 40 Bridges twice around Manhattan Island, 64.6 km two-way Catalina Channel crossing, 40.3 km Monterey Bay crossing in California, 40.2 km Lake Taupo in New Zealand, and a 34.2 km crossing of Lake Tahoe in California.“

This is the standard for amateur swimmers: in 11 years, Zemaitis has completed 131 marathon swims on over 100 different courses including 37 courses over 25 km and 58 courses over 15 km. Zemaitis finished his 2022 calendar season on November 1st with a 10-mile loop in Lake Pleasant outside Phoenix, Arizona that put his annual total distance at a mind-boggling 807.7 km (501.25 miles) in officially documented 250 hours 30 minutes in the water (excluding his training distance and hours). His 2020 season saw he and his brother complete 644 km worth of tandem swims together.

Munatones continues, “But Joe doesn’t merely focus on himself. He lead Team USA at both the IISA World Championships in  Samoëns, France in 2023 and Molveno, Italy in 2025. He serves as chairman of the International Ice Swimming Association USA, serves as the Technical Consultant for the IISA, and wrote an educational and inspirational book called Joe’s Rules.

He also created the concept of the Triple Crown of Stage Swims and became the first person in history to complete all 4 stages of the SCAR Swim Challenge in Arizona, the ʻAu I Nā Mokupuni ʻEkolu Swim Challenge in Hawaii between the islands of Lanai, Maui, and Molokai, and all 7 stage swims of the 193 km 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim in New York.”

For a systemic logging of Zemaitis’ prolific marathon swimming career from 2013 to the present, take a look at his impressive portfolio of swims on the Marathon Swimmers Federation LongSwims database here.

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