An Interview With Dale Petranech

Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Back in 2010, International Swimming Hall of Fame and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame dual inductee Dale Petranech gave an interview as the IMSHOF Honorary Secretary.  He  passed away yesterday from pancreatic cancer.

At that time, Petranech oversaw an international selection committee that included the following individuals:

1. Shelley Taylor-Smith of Australia, the dominant professional marathon swimmer from the mid-1980’s to the mid-1990’s
2. Sid Cassidy of Florida, former chairman of the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee
3. Tim Johnson of Massachusetts, author of The History of Open Water Swimming
4. Paul Asmuth of California, the dominant professional marathon swimmer of the 1980’s
5. Michael Read of England, Chairman of the Channel Swimming Association
6. Conrad Wennerberg of Illinois, author of Winds, Waves and Sunburn: A Brief History of Marathon Swimming
7. Steven Munatones of California, creator of The Daily News of Open Water Swimming and the Oceans Seven
8. Alison Streeter of the U.K., Queen of the Channel for her 43 successful swims of the English Channel
9. Kevin Murphy of the U.K., King of the Channel for his 34 successful swims of the English Channel
10. Pierre Otis of Canada, former Chairman of the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean
11. Dale Petranech of New Jersey, Honorary Secretary of the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee
12. Carol Sing of California, the then oldest female swimmer to cross the English Channel
13. Montserrat Tresserras of Spain, first Spaniard to swim the Straits of Gibraltar and English Channel
14. Irene van der Laan of the Netherlands, former English Channel double-crossing record holder
15. Lynn Blouin of Canada, race director of the Traversée internationale du Lac Memphrémagag
16. Richard Broer of the Netherlands, creator of Netherlands Open Water
17. David Clark of California, a swimmer of, and coach, escort and observer for swimmers of the Catalina and English Channel
18. Bob Duenkel of Florida, the Curator and Assistant CEO of the ISHOF
19. Silvia Dalotto of Argentina, a certified FINA Open Water official, advocate for South American open water swimmers
20. James Doty of Massachusetts, founder of the New England Marathon Swimming Association
21. Maurice Ferguson of the U.K., former president of the British Long Distance Swimming Association
22. Dr. Marcella MacDonald of Connecticut, completed 6 English Channel crossing including a double-crossing
23. Dr. Osama Ahmed Momtaz of Egypt, recipient of the National Award of Excellency in Sport from the Egyptian Government
24. Christopher Guesdon of Australia, open water swimming administrator, coach, athlete, promoter and FINA administrator
25. Dee Llewellyn of Great Britain, British Long Distance Swimming Association administrator
26. Pavel Kuznetsov of Russia, English Channel swimmer, coach and open water swimming administrator
27. Neville Smith of South Africa, South African open water swimming coach, promoter, administrator and commentator
28. Jay Thomas of Florida, FINA and USA Swimming open water swimming official and administrator
29. Peter Van Vooren of Belgium, Chairman of the Channel Swimming Association

Copyright © 2008-2019 by World Open Water Swimming Association