Stève “Seal” Stievenart (France, MSF bio here, IISA bio here, @steve_stievenart) of France was recently inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in its Class of 2025.

He and his fellow inductees (Grace van der Byl (USA, MSF bio here), Simone Ercoli  (Italy, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here), Dina Levačić (Croatia, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here), Aurélie Muller (France, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here), Joe Zemaitis (USA, MSF bio here, IISA bio here), Eddie Spelling (Great Britain, CS&PF bio here), Jorge “Coco” Villegas Pérez (Mexico, MSF bio here), Nora Toledano Cadena (Mexico, MSF bio here), Forrest Nelson (USA, MSF bio here), and Richard Broer (Netherlands, IISA bio here) were recognized and honored on the Isle of Jersey last week in a gala weekend hosted by Sally Minty Gravett, MBE (Jersey, MSF bio here).

Denison reported that 22 IMSHOF Honorees were part of 90 attendees at the Induction dinner on Saturday where 5 of the 8 new Inductees and all 3 of the Award winners attended along with all 6 IMSHOF Executive Committee members. The event was a full weekend of swims, Friday BBQ, island tour, casual lunches, dinners, a Congress to discuss detailed items, and a preview of the Vindication Swim about the life, challenges, and achievements of IMSHOF Honor Swimmer Mercedes Gleitze.

Next year, the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame festivities will be held in San Diego, California with Carol Sing (USA, MSF bio here) organizing the multi-day even on May 16th 2026. The IMSHOF Honor Swimmer of the Class of 2000 has long been a stalwart volunteer with the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation (shown below at the 2011 IMSHOF ceremonies held at the United Nations) and a solid pillar in the marathon swimming community for decades.

For more information, visit www.imshof.org.

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