Courtesy of Chris Guesdon, Chairman of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
The channel and marathon swimming world were taken aback by the unexpected passing of David Yudovin in 2015 [shown swimming above in the foreground of Mount Fuji in Japan].
But Yudovin had accomplished a significant amount of achievements in a very short amount of time while guiding the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
His efforts were rightly honored with the 2016 Irving Davids-Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award.
The IMSHOF chairman Chris Guesdon described Yudovin’s impact. “David is recognized as one of the most prolific open water marathon swimmers in history. He is known for pioneering channel swimming firsts that span the globe.
An American marathon swimmer, Yudovin is a 1999 Honour Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, a 2014 Honor Open Water Swimmer in the International Swimming Hall of Fame, a lifetime member of the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation, a lifetime member of the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association, and a member of the Half Century Club.”
The Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award is an award of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and was established in 1970 by the New England Marathon Swimming Association to honor and recognize the contribution of individuals and groups making major contributions to Marathon Swimming and serve as a perpetual memorial to Irving Davids and Captain Roger Wheeler.
The recipients since 1970 include the following individuals:
1970 Joe Grossman
1971 Gerald Forsberg
1972 Buck Dawson
1973 Willy Van Rysel
1974 Jerry Nason
1975 Ray Scott and Audrey Scott
1976 Aquatique Club Du lac St. Jean
1977 Conrad Wennerberg
1978 Charles E. Silvia
1979 Dennis Matuch
1980-2001 Award Retired
2002 James Doty
2003 British Long Distance Swimming Association
2004 Roger Parsons and Valerie Parsons
2005 Lynn Blouin
2006 Dale Petranech
2007 Silvia Dalotto
2008 Shelley Taylor-Smith
2009 Michael Read
2010 Christopher Guesdon
2011 Steven Munatones
2012 Drury Gallagher
2013 Ned Denison
2014 Melissa Cunningham
2015 Dennis Miller
2016 David Yudovin
Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association