Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
“It was a magical day in San Francisco,” said Kathie Hewko [shown on left with her husband Emil]. “Emil is my huge support person.”
The realtor from Petaluma, California has been swimming across and underneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay for four decades. To date, she has completed 92 successful crossings, the record for the most crossings of the Golden Gate Bridge for both men and women.
The 69-year-old completed her successful 50th Golden Gate Bridge swim on her 60th birthday and will swim her 100th crossing (Century Swim) sometime in her 70’s.
Century swimmers around the world include Theodore Yach to and from Robben Island in South Africa, Gary Emich and Steven Hurwitz to and from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, Lucky Meisenheimer M.D. in Lake Cane in Orlando, Florida. Others who are close to reaching 100 open water swims in a specific venue include Bill Welzien in the Swim Around Key West, Florida (76 circumnavigations).
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