Dale Petranech, chairman of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF), announced its Honor Class of 2009 and, as usual, its inductees are an incredible group of open water swimming specialists.

Each of the honorees has a wealth of experience and a long history of success in the open water – their stories, backgrounds and accomplishments will be highlighted over the next few days. They join over 200 other honorees International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida.

The Davids Wheeler Award was given to Chris Guesdon of Australia. Bill Sadlo Jr. was selected as the Pioneer Swimmer. Chris Guesdon of Australia and Ray Brickell and Reg Brickell Jr. of Great Britain were honored as Administrators. The class of 2009 International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame swimmers included Aleksey Akatyev of Russia, Yuri Kudinov of Russia,