Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

noun – Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award is an award given by the International Swimming Hall of Fame to honor and recognize the contribution of individuals and groups making major contributions to marathon swimming.

The honor was established in 1970 by the New England Marathon Swimming Association to serve as a perpetual memorial to Irving Davids and Captain Roger Wheeler. Its recipients include:

1970 Joe Grossman, USA
1971 Gerald Forsberg, Great Britain
1972 Buck Dawson, USA
1973 Willy Van Rysel, Netherlands
1974 Jerry Nason, USA
1975 Ray Scott and Audrey Scott, Great Britain
1976 Aquatique Club Du lac St. Jean, Canada
1977 Conrad Wennerberg, USA
1978 Charles E. Silvia, USA
1979 Dennis Matuch, USA
1980-2001 Award Retired
2002 James Doty, USA
2003 British Long Distance Swimming Association, Great Britain
2004 Roger Parsons & Valerie Parsons, Great Britain
2005 Lynn Blouin, Canada
2006 Dale Petranech, USA
2007 Silvia Dalotto, Argentina
2008 Shelley Taylor-Smith, Australia
2009 Michael Read, Great Britain
2010 Christopher Guesdon, Australia
2011 Steven Munatones, USA
2012 Drury Gallagher, USA
2013 Ned Denison, Ireland
2014 Melissa Cunningham, Australia
2015 Dennis Miller, Fiji
2016 David Yudovin, USA
2017 Richard Broer, Netherlands

Captain Wheeler possessed a renowned focus on providing an open water swimming safety set in swims like the Boston Light Swim. He was also creator of the Rhode Island State Life-Saving system and is also the namesake of a state beach in Rhode Island, named after him in 1970 shortly after his death in 1969.

Davids was a professional marathon swimmer and member of the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation.

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