Many other open water swimming greats have been honored over the last 140 years. There are hundreds of memorial events and statues around the world, many more than are listed below.

From ferries to swim meets, from plaques to parks, from seats to statues, from lecture series to leisure centers, from college institutions to marine buoys, the legacy of many open water swimmers have been commemorated in various ways and forms over the decades.

Some were more recent; others have been around for a long time.

Maarten van der Weijden (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1999): A statute of the 2008 Olympic gold medalist Maarten van der Weijden was erected in the Frisian town of Burdaard in the Netherlands to honor of his charity swim through the Eleven Cities of Friesland (11 steden in Friesland) [shown above].

David Yudovin (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1999): Artists Phil Hauser, Jay Burbank and David Plumb collaborated with his wife Beth Yudovin to create a David Yudovin Memorial Bench (bas relief of Yudovin swimming with dolphins carved in mahogany shown below) that was dedicated in Cambria, California.

Commander Forsberg (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1965): The Memorial to Commander Charles Gerald Forsberg [shown below] is a monument in Morecambe, England to Commander Gerald Forsberg.

James Doty (Honor Swimmer of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2007): Two Jim Doty Memorial Clocks are posted at the clock tower at the L Street Bathhouse (Curley Community Center) in South Boston, Massachusetts were named after James Doty to help swimmers training in the harbor know how long they have been swimming.

Shelley Taylor-Smith (Honor Swimmer of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1990): The MV Shelley Taylor-Smith is a ferry owned by the Public Transport Authority and operated under contract by Captain Cook Cruises on Transperth services on the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. The ferry [shown below] is named after 7-time world professional marathon swimming champion Shelley Taylor-Smith.

Ben Carlson: The Ben Carlson Memorial Lifeguard Headquarters and 3-meter bronze statue [shown below] at the Balboa Pier, Newport Beach, California. Named after the 32-year-old Newport Beach lifeguard, surfer and swimmer Ben Carlson who gave his life in trying to rescue others. He passed away in 2014 when a huge set closed out on him during a rescue. A scholarship in his name was created to raise funds for student lifeguards and to support organizations that aid underprivileged children.

Bill and Bob Meistrell: Life-size bronze statues [shown below] of twin brothers and lifeguards Bill Meistrell and Bob Meistrell stand in front of the Seaside Lagoon  to commemorate the first practical wetsuit for ocean-goers in 1953 in Redondo Beach, California.

Vicki Keith (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2004): Vicki Keith Point is an area at the end of the Leslie Street Spit on Lake Ontario in Toronto, Canada that was named in honor of Vicki Keith. This is place where she made most of her landings after crossing Lake Ontario.

Cliff Lumsdon (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1969): The Cliff Lumsdon Park is a park in Toronto, Canada named in honor of Cliff Lumsdon, a famed professional marathon swimmer from Canada.

Jim McConica (Honor Swimmer in the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2008): McConica Cove is a small cove on Catalina Island named in 1989 in honor of Jim McConica, a famed American pool and open water swimmer, who participated in a record-setting relay across the Catalina Channel.

Captain Matthew Webb (Honor Swimmer in the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1963): Webb Crescent is a road in Dawley named in honor of Captain Matthew Webb, the first person to successfully swim across the English Channel. The Captain Webb Primary School is a primary school, nursery and day care center located on Webb Crescent in Shropshire, England. The Captain Matthew Webb Memorial [shown below] in Dawley has an inscription “Nothing great is easy” placed in honor of his 1875 crossing of the English Channel. The Webb House is a house at Adams’ Grammar School in England.

Lynne Cox (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1982): Cape Lynne Cox is a cape on Siberia’s famed Lake Baikal located near the Angara River where Lynne Cox became the first person to swim 7 miles from cape to cape in 4 hours 19 minutes in August 1988. The asteroid 37588 Lynnecox was named in her honor.

Marilyn Bell (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1967): Among other monuments and plaques, there is a federal plaque erected by the Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board near the site of Marilyn Bell‘s finish on her 1954 crossing of Lake Ontario in Canada. A plaque is mounted on the base of a statue of a lion along Lake Shore Boulevard by the Government of Ontario Building of the Canadian National Exhibition commemorating her 1954 Lake Ontario crossing. The Marilyn Bell Park is a park on Lake Ontario near the finish of her 1954 Lake Ontario crossing. The Marilyn Bell 1 [shown above] is a ferry boat that serves the Billy Bishop Toronto Island Airport. The name was chosen as the top name in a contest held by the Toronto Port Authority. The Lakeshore Swimming Club of Toronto held the first Marilyn Bell Swim Classic, a meet sanctioned by Swim Ontario, in 2009.

Bert Thomas (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1969): The Bert Thomas Monument is a rock structure and plaque on Ediz Hook in Port Los Angeles, Washington that commemorate the site where Bert Thomas entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the first successful crossing in 1955.

Jacques Amyot (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1995): A statute of Jacques Amyot is located near the finish of the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean in Roberval, Quebec, Canada on lac St-Jean to commemorate the first crossing of lac St-Jean.

Lord Byron (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1982): Byron’s Stone near Tepelene, Albania, Byron’s Cave or La Grotta di Byron is a sea cave in Portovenere, Italy, the Statue of Lord Byron in Athens, Greece, and the Lord Byron Memorial Stone in Westminster Abbey in the Poets’ Corner / South Transept are some of the many memorials to Lord Byron.

Doc Counsilman (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1981): The Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center (CBAC shown below with a sculpture of Doc in the English Channel) is the home to Indiana University swimming, diving and water polo programs and named after famed Olympic swimming coach and English Channel swimmer James ‘Doc’ Counsilman. The Doc Counsilman Memorial Lecture Series is an annual lecture given by luminaries outside the swimming community at the American Swimming Coaches Association’s annual World Clinic and was named after Counsilman.

Shane Gould (Honor Swimmer in the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1977): The Shane Gould [shown below] is a Sydney RiverCat-class  catamaran operated by Harbour City Ferries on the Parramatta River. Built in 1993, the Rivercat was named after Shane Gould AM MBE who at age 15, won 5 individual Olympic medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics and is an open water swim organizer.

Buddy Belshe: Buddy’s Buoy is a fixture in the Pacific Ocean for nearly 50 years and is a marine buoy located off of the Newport Pier located in front of the Newport Beach Lifeguard Headquarters, named for famed California waterman Buddy Belshe.

Robert Dowling (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1970): Dowling College was named after Robert Dowling, the first person to swim around Manhattan Island. Dowling provided a grant of US$3 million in 1968, which allowed the Adelphi University campus in Oakdale, New York to become Dowling College that was closed in 2016.

Gertrude Ederle (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1963): A bust of Gertrude Ederle, the famed American English Channel and Olympic swimmer, was planned for the Sirene Hotel in Cap Gris Nez, France. The Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center is a New York City recreation center located at 232 West 60th Street in Manhattan Island. Her life was also memorialized in the Disney film Young Woman and the Sea, starring Daisy Ridley.

Annette Kellerman (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1965): Annette Kellerman’s plaque [shown below] and collection transferred from the Dennis Wolanski Library and Archive of Performing Arts at the Sydney Opera House to the Powerhouse Museum in commemoration to Annette Kellerman.

Des Renford (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1978): Des Renford Aquatic Centre [shown below] is an award-winning facility located in Heffron Park, Maroubra, Australia that is named after the former King of the Channel®, Des Renford.

Régent Lacoursière (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1978): Rue Lacoursière is a street named after Régent Lacoursière in Montréal,  Québec, Canada.

Daniel Eulogio Carpio Massioti (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2005): The Daniel Eulogio Carpio Massioti National Swimming Pool in Lima, Peru is named after Daniel Eulogio Carpio Massioti.

Páraic Casey: Páraic Casey Memorial [shown below] at Sandycove Island is a memorial plaque in honor of Páraic Casey, a 45-year-old open water swimmer from Co Cork, Ireland who passed away half a mile off the coast of France in July 2012after swimming for more than 16 hours in the English Channel.

Clarence “Buster” Crabbe (Honor Swimmer in the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1965): A Hollywood Walk of Fame five-pointed terrazzo and brass star of Buster Crabbe on the north side of the 6900 block of Hollywood Boulevard.

Esther Williams (Honor Swimmer in the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1966): : A Hollywood Walk of Fame five-pointed terrazzo and brass star of Esther Williams on the east side of the 1500 block of Vine Street.

Duke Kahanamoku (Honor Swimmer in the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1965): Two statues of Duke Kahanamoku are prominent in Waikiki, Hawaii [shown below] and at the Freshwater Surf Lifesaving Club in Australia [shown below] honors the six-time Olympic medalist, surfing and lifesaving ambassador star. There are also beaches, restaurants, and other memorials named after the personable waterman.

Johnny Weissmuller: A portrait of Olympic and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller by the Pach Brothers is at the National Portrait Gallery in the Smithsonian Institution (circa 1924). Weissmuller also has a Hollywood Walk of Fame five-pointed terrazzo and brass star on the north side of the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard. There is also a plaque written in Spanish in Acapulco, Mexico that is translated as, “Tarzan, Johnny Weismuller [sic], An homage to him who chose to live and rest in his beautiful port of Acapulco. 2 June 1904 – 20 Jan. 1984.”

Dottie York: The Dottie York Scholarship Fund for Catalina Channel crossings was named for Dottie York, the long-time American administrator and Secretary for the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation who put in years volunteering and organizing crossings of the Catalina Channel. She was the mother of famed channel swimmer John York.

Zoltán Halmay: A memorial plaque and statue of Imrich Zoltán von Halmay, a Hungarian open water swimmer who competed in four Olympics (1900 – 1908), was made by the Slovak Olympic Committee in Dubrava, Bratislava County, Slovakia.

Sir Bernard Freyberg: The Freyberg Memorial Pool and Fitness Centre and Freyberg Beach are the home of open water swimming in Wellington, New Zealand named after Sir Bernard Freyberg, one of the most decorated British soldiers and commanders of World War I. The Freyberg Memorial Swim is an annual open water swimming event.

John F. Kennedy: There are numerous schools, universities, streets, places, parks, airports, libraries and other memorials and monuments honoring John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States who earned a Purple Heart Medal for saving the lives of 3 fellow crew members off the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific during World War II.

Charles Jackson French: A US post office in Omaha, Nebraska and a Naval pool in San Diego, California are named after Charles Jackson French who swam 8 hours while pulling a raft filled with 15 wounded sailors to safety after their ship was sunk by the Japanese off the Solomon Islands.

Tom Blower (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1965): A commemorative plaque honoring Tom Blower is located in Donaghadee, Co. Down, Ireland.

Pedro Rangel Haro: Statues of Pedro Rangel Haro will be placed in Cancún in the Mexican Caribbean Sea underwater park to help create marine life in the coral reef environment, in Guadalajara, and in a new 7-hectare, 5-pool, 140-room training center in Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo.

Jim Whelan (Honor Administrator in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2001): The Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall is a large theater and auditorium for concerts, sports, and live entertainment on the beach and Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey named after James Whelan, a teacher,  lifeguard, race director, open water swimmer, and Mayor of Atlantic City – which may be the biggest memorial of all those dedicated to honoring open water swimmers.

There are also numerous events that honor the following open water swimmers:

• Bruckner Chase: The Chase Challenge, named after New Jersey waterman and marathon swimmer Bruckner Chase is an ocean swimming competition at the Monterey Beach SportsFest that includes 0.5-mile, 1-mile and 2.5-mile ocean swims.
• Keo Nakama (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1967): Starting in 1946, the Keo Nakama Invitational was held in the salt water of the War Memorial Natatorium near Diamond Head Volcano on Oahu, the longest-running annual pool swimming meet in the United States named for Keo Nakama, the first person to cross the Molokai Channel.
• Murray Rose (Honor Swimmer in the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1965): Murray Rose’s Malabar Magic Ocean Swim is a charity swim organised by the Rainbow Club Australia. The 1 km and 2.4 km ocean swims are held in Sydney, Australia and the Murray Rose Pool (Redleaf Pool) in Sydney are named for Olympic gold medalist and waterman Murray Rose.
• Fran Crippen (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2011): The Fran Crippen TYR Swim Meet of Champions in California is an annual pool swimming event that draw athletes from around the world named after Fran Crippen who passed away. in a FINA World Cup event in the UAE.

Diana Nyad (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame): A plaque in Smathers Beach, Florida is named after the 64-year-old Diana Nyad who swam from Cuba to Florida. The plaque reads, “Diana Nyad came ashore at this point on Smathers Beach on September 2, 2013, having swum 110.86 miles nonstop from Havana to Key West, the first to achieve this epic crossing without a shark cage. Successful on her fifth try (51 hours, 54 minutes), Diana first attempted this feat in 1978. Thousands on this spot and millions worldwide took inspiration from the 64-year-old’s first words upon realizing her lifelong dream: “Never, Ever, Give Up.”

On November 6th this past week on the shores of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Nyad (@diananyad) was similarly honored with a plaque at Las Olas Oceanside Park. The plaque reads, “Diana Nyad Completes Historic Swim. Diana Nyad came ashore at this point on Smathers Beach on September 2, 2012, having swum 110.86 miles nonstop from Havana to Key West, the first to achieve this epic crossing without a shark cage. Successful on her fifth attempted try (52 hours, 54 minutes), Diana first attempted the feat in 1978. Thousands on this spot and millions worldwide took inspiration from the 64-year-old’s first words upon realizing her lifelong dream, “Never, Ever, Give Up.”

Between 1978 and 2013, Nyad made several attempts at realizing her lifelong dream of swimming from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida. Her first attempt was a well-publicized shark-cage aided attempt that was aborted after 41 hours 49 minutes. Her second attempt was performed 33 years later where she used Shark Shields because she was expecting shark encounters. Neither she nor her support team expected – or knew about – box jellyfish, the most venomous marine creature on the planet, that ended up leading to a DNF. Her second attempt was aborted in a painful ending 28 hours 43 minutes after she had swum after 90.3 km. Six weeks later, Nyad was again pulled from the water after 44 hours 30 minutes where she had swum 148 km in a wildly off course path, due to a combination of significant currents. She came back nearly a year later in 2012, but her swim was again aborted due to weather, a tropical storm, and box jellyfish stings after 51 hours 5 minutes and 89 km. In 2013, she was finally encountered swimmable weather to achieve her goal.

Her backstory and that triumphant crossing were later dramatically depicted in the film NYAD starring Annette Bening as Nyad and Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll.

Mercedes Gleitze (Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 1969: Vindication Swim is a motion picture film about the life and achievements of British swimmer Mercedes Gleitze, produced by Relsah Films. She was the subject of a documentary film by Clare Delargy entitled Mercedes: The Spirit of a New Age.

Memorial Open Water Swims

A very small partial listing of Memorial Open Water Swims is below. There are many more. To complete the list, please send the name, location, and website of other memorial swims to steven.munatones@kaatsu.com.

• Aaron Vaughn Memorial 1K Open Water Swim
• Arthur Dunne Memorial Cup
• Ballydavid (1580 Memorial Massacre Swim)
• Ben Hair Memorial Lake Anna Open Water Swim
• Bente Weber Memorial Swim (Nevis to St. Kitts Cross-Channel Swim)
• Betsy Owens Memorial Swim
• Bill Earley Memorial Open Water Swim
• Boyd Memorial Swim
• Brent Rice Memorial Swim of the Sound
• Brian Curtis Mile
• Bud Beatty Memorial 2-Mile Swim
• Carlin Soule Memorial Polar Bear Dip
• Charles Bender Memorial Swim
• Crippen Sunset Mile
• Cyril Duff Memorial Cups
• Dave Martin Memorial Swim
• Don Burns Memorial Swim
• Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim
• Eddie Skelly Memorial Swim
• Ederle Swim
• Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim
• Fran Schnarr Memorial 5K Open Water Championships
• Fran Schnarr Memorial Metropolitan Open Water Age Group Championships
• Frogman Memorial Swim
• Graeme Thompson Memorial Cup
• Harry Yates Memorial Swim
• James E. Ehrlich Memorial Mile Swim
• Jim Doty Memorial Mile Swim
• Jim McDonnell Memorial Lake Swims Clinic
• John Boyd Memorial Swim
• John Schrum Memorial Swim
• Joshua Newman Memorial 5K
• Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim
• Martin Duggan Memorial Swim
• Memorial Nino Sofi
• Michael Power Christmas Day Memorial Swim
• Murray Dingle Bridge to Bridge Swim
• Randy Caddell Memorial Swim
• Ray Licata Memorial Long Branch Ocean Mile Swim
• Rose Pitonof Swim
• Steve Omi Memorial Open Water Swim
• Teddy Memorial Swim
• Tom Wear Memorial Swim
• Tony Ryan Memorial Bay Swim

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