Michael Read, MBE, an 83-year-old dual inductee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, keeps on swimming and was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Suffolk on October 22nd at one of the 12 graduation ceremonies.

Read, who has campaigned long and hard for the revival of the Broomhill Lido in Ipswich, was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the community. 

When not working on dryland, Read still competes in events from the 200m butterfly to the 400m individual medley and 800m freestyle in the pool. In addition to participating in domestic and international pool competitions, he also finished 5th in the Doha World Aquatics Masters Championships in the 3 km and finished 8th in the 10 km 65+ age division at the El Cruce in Cancun, Mexico in 3 hours 40 minutes.

He competes throughout the year in numerous locations, but he was finally stopped at the 26 km International Swimming Marathon of Toroneos Gulf in Greece from Kallithea Beach to Nikiti. He was invited as the guest of honour – but was not allowed to swim. He recalls, “It seemed a harsh decision, but in all fairness, it was a correct one. It’s been my pleasure and privilege to have been able to swim the Gulf 25 times. That means that for the last 24 years, I have taken the place of someone who could have had the opportunity to swim. They only have space for 20 swimmers. Now it’s my turn to give others a chance to compete in this wonderful event.“

Photos courtesy of the University of Suffolk.

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