NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING UPDATED AND CORRECTED.

Doug Allen swims. A lot. Mega distances. And has done so for many, many years.

For the 12th consecutive year, the 66-year-old swimmer from Texas’ DADS Club of Houston won the annual U.S. Masters Swimming Go The Distance  program.

Go The Distance is a self-directed event on the honor system that encourage USMS members to regularly swim and track their progress. Distance is the solo metric for this virtual event, not speed, time, pace, stroke, or frequency.

With one day to go, Allen has swum an average of 13,255 meters per day. Every single day of the year. More than a marathon swim every single day. He explains, “I do double workouts 365 days per year and have not missed a day in 19 years. Also I do 60 minutes of dryland.”

Allen swam 14,631 yards per day throughout the year. If he swims at a 1:30 pace per 100 yards on average, that is 3 hours 34 minutes of swimming – not including dryland work – 365 days per year. Wow.

It is interesting to note that 8 of the top 10 swimmers are either in their 60’s or 70’s.

Top 10 USMS 2025 Go The Distance Swimmers:

1. Doug Allen (66) 3,034.47 miles or 4,883.49 km swum or an average of 13,379 meters per day
2. Brian McLaughlin (70) 1,701.42 miles or 2,738.16 km swum or an average of 7,501 meters per day
3. Melodee Liegl (@melodeeliegl, 58) 1,654.40 miles or 1,662.49 km swum or an average of 7,294 meters per day [shown below]
4. Sharyl Griffith (64) 1,532.13 miles or 2,465.71 km swum or an average of 6,755 meters per day
5. Andy Seretan (71) 1,503.51 miles or 2,419.65 km swum or an average of 6,629 meters per day [shown below]
6. Eve Maidenberg (49) 1,307.88 miles or 2,104.82 km swum or an average of 5,766 meters per day
7. Thomas Schwartz (65) 1,238.35 miles or 1,992.92 km swum or an average of 5,460 meters per day
8. Jim Callahan (68) 1,172.40 miles or 1,886.79 km swum or an average of 5,169 meters per day
9. Michael Carew (76) 1,116.48 miles or 1,796.79 km swum or an average of 4,922 meters per day
10. Steffan Sarkin (65) 1,032.56 miles or 1,661.74 km swum or an average of 4,562 meters per day

Top 10 USMS 2024 Go The Distance Swimmers:

1. Doug Allen (65) 3,004.79 miles or 4,835.74 km swum or an average of 13,285 meters per day
2. Brian McLaughlin (69) 2,401.74 miles or 3,865.22 km swum or an average of 10,618 meters per day
3. Melodee Liegl (@melodeeliegl, 57) 1,780.41 miles or 2,865.29 km swum or an average of 7,871 meters per day [shown below]
4. Sharyl Griffith (63) 1,527.17 miles or 2,457.74 km swum or an average of 6,752 meters per day
5. Andy Seretan (71) 1,503.51 miles or 2,419.66 km swum or an average of 6,647 meters per day [shown below]
6. Ed Mosher (78) 1,422.68 miles or 2,289.58 km swum or an average of 6,290 meters per day
7. Vesna Shelnutt (39) 1,274.77 miles or 2,051.54 km swum or an average of 5,636 meters per day
8. Thomas Schwartz (64) 1,235.81 miles or 1,988.84 km swum or an average of 5,463 meters per day
9. Eve Maidenberg (48) 1,182.13 miles or 1,902.45 km swum or an average of 5,226 meters per day
10. Kenneth Sweigart (73) 1,042.49 miles or 1,677.72 km swum or an average of 4,609 meters per day

Top 10 USMS 2023 Go The Distance Swimmers:

1. Doug Allen (64) 3,030.77 miles or 4,877.55 km swum or an average of 13,363 meters per day
2. Anton Janezich (31) 2,594.06 miles or 4,174.73 km swum or an average of 11,437 meters per day
3. Melodee Liegl (56) 1,863.14 miles or 2,998.43 km swum or an average of 8,214 meters per day [shown below]
4. Brian McLaughlin (68) 1,825.73 miles or 2,938.22 km swum or an average of 8,049 meters per day
5. Andy Seretan (69) 1,476.28 miles or 2,375.84 km swum or an average of 6,509 meters per day [shown below]
6. Sharyl Griffith (61) 1,389.85 miles or 2,229 km swum or an average of 6,107 meters per day
7. Thomas Schwartz (63) 1,272.17 miles or 2,036 km swum or an average of 5,580 meters per day
8. Eve Maidenberg (47) 1,210.38 miles or 1,938 km swum or an average of 5,311 meters per day
9. Jim Wetzel (66) 1,160.73 miles or 1,862 km swum or an average of 5,103 meters per day
10. Robert Olson (63) 1,103.95 miles or 1,762 swum or an average of 4,829 meters per day

The 65-year-old Allen has won the last 12 consecutive USMS Go The Distance virtual events:

• 2025: 3,034.47 miles swum at the age of 65 – 13,379 meters per day
• 2024: 3,004.79 miles swum at the age of 64 – 13,285 meters per day
• 2023: 3,006.16 miles swum at the age of 64 – 13,255 meters per day
• 2022: 3,027.78 miles swum at the age of 63 – 13,350 meters per day
• 2021: 3,025.29 miles swum at the age of 62 – 13,339 meters per day
• 2020: 2,963.35 miles swum at the age of 61 – 13,069 meters per day
• 2019: 3,066.99 miles swum at the age of 60 – 13,523 meters per day
• 2018: 3,130.68 miles swum at the age of 59 – 13,804 meters per day
• 2017: 2,957.96 miles swum at the age of 58 – 13,042 meters per day
• 2016: 2,856.47 miles swum at the age of 57 – 12,595 meters per day
• 2015: 2,700.42 miles swum at the age of 56 – 11,907 meters per day
• 2014: 2,446.27 miles swum at the age of 55 – 10,786 meters per day

Allen has swum an average of 12,944 meters per day over the last 12 years. 12.9 kilometers…every single day on average for 12 years. It is frankly almost too unbelievable – except Allen has swum it, day in and day out. And his nickname seems appropriate: Animal-Lane.

His record is, arguably, an unmatched record of discipline, dedication, and passion for any professional, masters, and amateur swimmer. Over the last 12 years, Allen has swum roughly between Malibu, California to Nova Scotia, Canada each year – or 5 round trips since 2014.

Allen (second from right) is shown above with teammates Andreas Lorenz, Amanda Gentry, Magda Lopez, and Tim Howard (left to right) at the Gulf LMSC open water swimming clinic held in Lake Longhorn in Houston, Texas.

For more information on the Go The Distance program, visit here.

Data is current as of December 30th 2024 – but it is utterly impossible for anyone to come close to perennial Go The Distance champion Allen.

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

World Open Water Swimming Federation, a human-powered project.