57-year-old statistician Melodee Liegl swims. A lot, back and forth in the pool and across lakes around the United States. And she has done so for many years, carefully documenting her swimming distance since 1995.

Swimming is one of those rare sports when it seems some people can go further and become more dedicated the older they become. Liegl (née Nugent), a club and high school butterflyer and backstroker in her past, has been participating in the annual U.S. Masters Swimming Go The Distance program since its inception – even before USMS hosted the event.  “I have kept track of my distances since I started swimming almost 30 years ago. I don’t like to miss a day of swimming. Last year, I missed a total of 18 days due to travel, sickness, snow days, and my kids. I love all the directions that swimming has taken me outside of the pool.  Swimming is the best.”

Since 1995, the Wisconsin native has swum a total of 42,194 km – or slightly more than the 40,075 km circumference of Planet Earth. In the chart below, Liegl shows her gradual increase in distance per year with the distance of her longest open water swims above the line (from 1.6 km to 5 km, 8 km, 13 km, 24 km, 43 km, and 58 km).

She explains, “During 2023, I swam a cumulative total of 39 days in the water.  I had my kids between 1996 and 2002, so I was just happy to get any swim in. In 2004, I switched to the Wisconsin Athletic Club that opened earlier hours than the YMCA. It is right across the street from my office, so I started getting in more swim time.  I also switched jobs within the Medical College that allowed a bit more flexibility.  In 2017, I had a hip replacement with the revision on the same hip (implant failure) the next year.  In 2020, COVID hit and I have been working from home since, which has given me more pool time (with less driving time to and from work).  It all makes sense to me.

My hip dysplasia and the surgeries only slowed me down because I could not get in the water for four weeks.  For the surgeries in 2017 and 2018, I was non-weight bearing for a month, so I really could not do anything.  But once I got the green light, I was back in the water with a pull buoy and no flip turns for months, but I was still happy.

A few different things have helped me increase my distances swim: (1) working from home, (2) having a reliable pool at my club, (3) enjoying lots of lakes to swim in during the summer, and (4) my kids are now young adults.”

In the annual U.S. Masters Swimming Go The Distance program, Liegl has swim the following distances year by year:

• 2023: 1,851 miles or 2,979 km distance swum or 8,163 meters per day [shown below], 3rd overall
• 2022: 1,906 miles or 3,067 km distance swum or 8,404 meters per day, 3rd overall
• 2021: 1,950 miles or 3,138 km distance swum or 8,597 meters per day, 4th overall
• 2020: 1534 miles or 2,469 km distance swum or 6,764 meters per day, 4th overall
• 2019: 1,620 miles or 2,607 km distance swum or 7,138 meters per day, 7th overall
• 2018: 1,341 miles or 2,159 km distance swum or 5,916 meters per day, 7th overall
• 2017: 1,214 miles or 1,954 km distance swum or 5,354 meters per day, 12th overall
• 2016: 1,447 miles or 2,328 km distance swum or 6,380 meters per day, 4th overall
• 2015: 1,275 miles or 2,051 km distance swum or 5,621 meters per day, 12th overall
• 2014: 1,408 miles or 2,267 km distance swum or 6,211 meters per day, 7th overall
• 2013: 1,150 miles or 1,852 km distance swum or 5,074 meters per day, 13th overall
• 2012: 1,121 miles or 1,805 km distance swum or 4,946 meters per day, 15th overall
• 2011: 1,057 miles or 1,701 km distance swum or 4,662 meters per day, 14th overall
• 2010: 1,046 miles or 1,684 km distance swum or 4,614 meters per day, 12th overall
• 2009: 838 miles or 1,350 km distance swum or 3,698 meters per day, 13th overall
• 2008: 593 miles or 955 km distance swum or 2,617 meters per day, 37th overall
• 2007: 567 miles or 913 km distance swum or 2,503 meters per day, 38th overall

Top 10 USMS 2023 Go The Distance Swimmers:

1. Doug Allen (64) 3,006 miles or 4,837 km distance swum or 13,255 meters per day
2. Anton Janezich (31) 2,579 miles or 4,151 km distance swum or 11,374 meters per day
3. Melodee Liegl (56) 1,851 miles or 2,979 km distance swum or 8,163 meters per day [shown below]
4. Brian McLaughlin (68) 1,808 miles or 2,910 km distance swum or 8,163 meters per day
5. Andy Seretan (69) 1,470 miles or 2,367 km distance swum or 6,485 meters per day [shown below]
6. Sharyl Griffith (61) 1,385 miles or 2,229 km distance swum or 6,107 meters per day
7. Thomas Schwartz (63) 1,265 miles or 2,036 km distance swum or 5,580 meters per day
8. Eve Maidenberg (47) 1,204 miles or 1,938 km distance swum or 5,311 meters per day
9. Jim Wetzel (66) 1,157 miles or 1,862 km distance swum or 5,103 meters per day
10. Robert Olson (63) 1,095 miles or 1,762 distance swum or 4.829 meters per day

Liegl explains her motivations for all her swimming, “Swimming made me a strong woman. I truly believe I would not be where I am now if it was not for this sport.  As an adult, I have been swimming the past 28 years and joined US Master Swimming in 1995.  The water is my happy place. I just love to swim.  My passion is marathon swimming. I love to travel to marathon swim events and hang out with my friends.“

She embodies her passion for swimming. “I jump in the pool at 4:00 am.  Nothing can replace the endorphins after swimming.  I never get bored of looking at the blue line at the bottom of the pool. But, I cannot wait to dip my toes in the many lakes in Wisconsin.  I am so lucky to live in Lake Country and explore the many lakes that are close to my house.  Swimming in the early morning, with no one on the lake and seeing the moon and stars and then the colorful sunrise, is a treat.  I often stop and look around at all the beauty and feel the serenity.“

Serenity was a bit more of a challenge to find in her last marathon swim across the Saint Lucia Channel that separates the islands of Martinique and Saint Lucia in the Caribbean Sea, a 34 km channel swim that took her 13 hours 14 minutes. She faced lightning, man o war, no seeums and rough seas. “The swells were three to three and a half feet for most of the swim, which Sue Dyson told me in the beginning that the first three or four hours would be the hardest and I think I thought after that it would get pretty flat and it never did.”

Back home in Wisconsin, she will just keep on swimming – and creating art with her arm strokes.

Liegl tracks her swims in Lake Country in her home state of Wisconsin with her smartwatch and an app. She swims in specific patterns in various lakes that create words with a tracker. Her course routes are captured by the app and now adorn the walls of the David Barnett Gallery in downtown Milwaukee.

In addition to her family, profession, and long training hours in the pool and lakes of Wisconsin, Liegl serves as a FINIS ambassador. She offers a FINIS promo code for 20% off anything at FINIS: MELSWIMS.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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