Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
The year-ending awards season is coming to a close. The Marathon Swimmers Federation announced its finalists for the MSF Global Marathon Swimming Awards:
Solo Swim of the Year (Female)
*Chloë McCardel (124 km in the Bahamas)
*Charlotte Samuels (20-hour Catalina Channel swim)
*Susan Simmons (68 km two-way crossing of Lake Cowichan)
Solo Swim of the Year (Male)
*Bob Fernald (English Channel swim against ‘foot-long odds’)
*Craig Lenning (First solo swim from the Farallon Islands to the mainland since 1967)
*Dr. Otto Thaning (Oldest to swim the English Channel)
Barra Award for Most Impressive Overall Year (Female)
*Emma France
*Elaine Howley
*Charlotte Samuels
Barra Award for Most Impressive Overall Year (Male)
*Anthony McCarley
*Rohan More
*Mo Siegel
Streeter Award for Service to Marathon Swimming
*Roger Finch and Tracy Clark (English Channel crew)
*Greg O’Connor (Boston Light race director, Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association founder, NEKOWSA volunteer) [shown below]
*Grace and Neil van der Byl (Southern California swim support crew, paddlers, organizers, and observers)
Yudovin Award for Most Adventurous Swim
*Patti Bauernfeind (First Monterey Bay crossing since 1980)
*Katie Benoit (Three-way crossing of Lake Constance, Germany) [shown above]
*Peter Hayden (First-ever circumnavigation of Anacapa Island, and then across the channel to the mainland without stopping)
For more information and background on each nominee, see here.
Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association