Accolades To Amy
Courtesy of WOWSA, Redondo Beach, California.
On June 8th 2019, Amy Appelhans Gubser became the third person in history to swim across the 43.4 km Santa Monica Bay between Point Dume in Malibu and Lunada Bay on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 17 hours 6 minutes.
The neonatal nurse celebrated her 50th birthday with a tough swim. “It was a long grind, but a completion. 27-milers are a different league. I wasn’t tapered so I was slower, strong though. But since most of our swims for the channels are 21+ miles, it is like taking on another 10 kilometers when you want to be done.”
Her husband Greg Gubser and Shannon Davey on kayaks with escort pilot Michael Chandler guided her along the night swim that was a fundraiser for Sam Howell and a good practice run for her successful 14 hour 10 minutes North Channel crossing between Northern Ireland and Scotland on July 2018, she completed a 21-mile crossing of the North Channel in 14 hours 10 minutes at the age of 50.
Gubser will be honored by the Guinness World Records for her Santa Monica Bay crossing that was ratified by the Marathon Swimmers Federation on October 5th at Seaside Lagoon in Redondo Beach, California.
Gubser will be honored along with Nejib Belhedi of Tunisia for his 75 hour 30 minutes swim across Tunisia’s Gulf of Gabès in the Mediterranean Sea between Sfax and the island of Djerba, Hank Wise for the most swim crossings of the Catalina Channel by an individual with 7 career crossings, Long Beach Swim Focus relay with Parks Wesson, Ted Bramble, Hank Wise, Lyle Nalli, Matty Mitchell, Lexie Kelly, and Samantha Sears for the fastest relay crossing of the Catalina Channel in 6 hours 53 minutes, Cameron Bellamy of South Africa for the fastest circumnavigation swim around Barbados in 40 hours 46 minutes, Martin Hobbs of South Africa for the fastest stage swim of Lake Malawi in 63 days, Alex Kostich for the fastest circumnavigation swim around Pitcairn Island in 2 hours 37 minutes, Sarah Ferguson of South Africa for the fastest circumnavigation swim around Easter Island in 19 hours 8 minutes, Glauco Luís de Oliveira Rangel of Brazil for the fastest Leme–Pontal swim in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 7 hours 13 minutes, Alexandre Fuzeau for the fastest time to become an Iron Iceman within 198 days, Terence Bell of Australia for the fastest stage swim around Kauai in Hawaii in 51 hours 57 minutes over 27 stages, Pat Gallant-Charette for the oldest person to complete the Triple Crown of Lake Monster Swims at the age of 68 years 180 days, Rostislav Vítek of the Czech Republic for the fastest Ice Mile swim by a male in 20 minutes 29 seconds, and
Magda Okurková of the Czech Republic for the astest Ice Mile swim by a female in 24 minutes 5 seconds.
To celebrate with Gubser and her open water swimming colleagues at the 2019 WOWSA Ocean Fest, register www.wowsaoceanfest.com.
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