This week, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer (Class of 2011) Yuko Matsuzaki (63, Japan, MSF bio here) was honored at the Japanese Consulate in Miami, Florida where she received a formal award given by the Japanese government, the prestigious Overseas Diplomatic Mission Award (在外公艦長表彰).
Over her lengthy career from 1989 to 2008, Matsuzaki was always the sole Japanese swimmer at professional marathon swims throughout Argentina, Brazil, Serbia, Greece, Italy, Bermuda, Canada, and France. After her professional marathon was over, she continued to do a number of unprecedented solo marathon swims in the US from Florida to California, as well as in Turks & Caicos.
Now, there are plenty of Japanese swimmers at the highest level of the sport – from world champion Ichika Kajimoto (21, Japan, World Aquatics bio here) to two-time Olympian Yasu Hirai Fukuoka (35, Japan, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here).
But a generation ago, Matsuzaki traveled alone, as the sole Japanese representative to international competitions – in a era where there were very few swimmers from any Asian country. She smiled, she swam, she learned English, she gave interviews – and in her own personable way, she somehow made international competitions seem a bit more global.
For those two decades of representing Japan, she will receive the Overseas Diplomatic Mission Award (Consul General Award), an award presented by the Japanese Ambassador/Consul General to individuals in recognition of their contributions and outstanding achievements to promoting mutual understanding and friendly relations between Japan and other countries or regions overseas.
Photo below shows Matsuzaki with Dale Petranech at the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame ceremonies at the United Nations in New York City.
Matsuzaki explains below her first experience as a professional marathon swimmer at the Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, the Italian leg of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit in 1989 at the age of 26:
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