WOWSA Awards

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WOWSA Awards
World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year

Nejib Belhedi (Tunisia)
Nejib Belhedi, a former special operations officer and Lieutenant Colonel, has a long and varied career in the open water. He has been successful as a channel swimmer, cold water swimmer, stage swimmer, boat pull swimmer, extreme swimmer, and a marathon swimmer. While promoting and organizing Ouma events for children and teenagers throughout his native Tunisia, Belhedi has continued to create well-promoted televised marathon swimming events that inspire people from all walks of life and ages to take up their own personal, healthful challenges. For his 47 hour 50 minute 155 km circumnavigation swim around Djerba Island in Tunisia over two nights, for generating a tremendous amount of creative publicity and positive inspiration through national television programming, and for accomplishing these feats at the age of 69 years in his post heart surgery life, Nejib Belhedi is a worthy nominee of the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

Joe Zemaitis and John Zemaitis (USA)
Joe and John Zemaitis could not be more similar and more alike. In a year like no other, the two brothers from Arizona took to the seas, rivers and lakes from coast to coast during their off times. And swim they did, in warm and cold, tranquil and turbulent. Older brother Joe and younger brother John bring two totally different approaches to the sport: one is intense and diligent, the other is laidback and swims whenever. They both smile broadly and laugh frequently; they both enjoy adventures and love travel. They set a goal when both their work schedules allow and did 644 km worth of tandem swims in 2020. For their tandem swims across Monterey Bay, Lake Tahoe, Santa Barbara Channel, twice around Manhattan Island, for Joe’s 112 km solo Roosevelt Lake swim in 47 hours 23 minutes, for the boundless joy and goodwill and appreciation they have for others and the sport, brothers Joe and John Zemaitis are worthy nominees for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

Paul Eugen Dorin Georgescu, Romania on February 22nd in Hanusse Bay, Antarctica in 0.00°C water in 22:44

Henri Kaarma in Estonia

Ger Kennedy Antarctica 2020

Julian Critchlow (UK)
Besides crossing the English Channel in 2004, 2014, 2017 and 2019, Julian Critchlow has researched, analyzed and explained the feats of swimmers of all ages and abilities across the English Channel for 16 years. He is analytical like no one else; he patiently and thoroughly documents the details of 2,804 English Channel crossings since 1875. His genius insight on the data enables him to view, present and comment on the English Channel community from both obvious and non-obvious perspectives. For his uncanny, thoughtful, highly inquisitive observations of the English Channel community, for his deep thinking and historical analyses of solo swims across the most iconic waterway of the world, and his comprehensive accuracy in building, maintaining and sharing the most authoritative English Channel swimming database, Julian Critchlow is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year nomination draft
Mallorca Open Swim (Spain)
Boris Nowalski has deep roots in the ocean, beginning as a young child in Costa Rica. A competitive swimmer, collegiate swimmer, open water swimmer, triathlete, diver, pilot, and aquapreneur, Nowalski has long been passionate about the sea. But after 20 years being stuck in a dryland corporate job in Madrid, he transformed his lifestyle back towards the sea. He founded Mallorca Open Water that focuses on offering swimcations and swimming holidays on Mallorca amid the Islas Baleares in the Mediterranean Sea. He organizes swim camps along the beautiful coastline of the island, attracting swimmers from around the globe. For helping swimmers of all ages improve their open water swimming technique and increase their confidence in swimming in the sea, for enabling customized vacations in a swimming paradise in the Mediterranean Sea, for sharing his joy and passion for swimming with others in the cobalt blue, sea green and baby blue colors of the Mallorca coastline, the Mallorca Open Swim is a worthy nominee for the 2018 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.

World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year

Bárbara Hernández Huerta (Chile)
Bárbara Hernández Huerta is known as the Sirena de Hielo (Ice Mermaid) in her native Chile where she specializes in glacier swimming, winter swimming and high altitude swimming. This year, she completed the 45.9 km 20 Bridges Swim around Manhattan Island in 7 hours 59 minutes to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming as well as completed an unprecedented 7.5 km high-altitude swim across Chungará Lake in the Andes Mountains in 10°C water in 2 hours 11 minutes at 4,517 meters in altitude. The child and adolescent psychologist also pioneered a 9.5 km course across the Beagle Channel in 1 hour 55 minutes in 7.8°C water and won the 30-39 age group in the 2019-2020 International Winter Swimming Association World Cup. For her adventurous spirit and passionate love of extreme swimming in all its various forms, for her sharing of her swims in dramatic venues on social media and on television, and for her inexhaustible joy that is clearly evident before, during and after her swims in cold water, Bárbara Hernández Huerta is worthy nominees for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.

Cath Pendleton (Wales)
Catherine Pendleton, known as The Merthyr Mermaid, become the first person to swim an Ice Mile inside the Antarctic Polar Circle, the most southernly swim on Planet Earth. She did the Zero Ice Mile in Antarctica in 0.6°C water, covering a mile as part of the Antarctica 2020 International Swim.
Three
On 31 January 2020, she completed an Ice Mile in Lake Aguelmam Azegza, Morocco in 4.77°C water, covering 1.00 mile in 38:33.
On 22 February 2020, she completed a Zero Ice Mile in Antarctica in 0.6°C water, covering 1.00 mile as part of the Antarctica 2020 International Swim.

Kyra Wijnker (Netherlands)
Alisa Fatum
Chloë McCardel Doing Her Bit To Help Out
Jaimie Monahan for her week of swimming Manhattan Island every day, followed by the first ever 4x Manhattan Island Circumnavigation. Carly Miller for her multiple swims this season after being struck down with COVID ! Catherine Breed for her Monterey Bay record and Catalina crossing with the WR Uberman relay.

Susan Simmons (Canada)
In an unprecedented challenging year, Susan Simmons stepped up in a huge way, characteristically with her selfless, humble, compassionate demeanor. The 55-year-old from British Columbia shifted her focus from her own marathon solo swimming career to coaching, mentoring and guiding the Spirit Orcas, a group of Special Olympic swimmers who did an 80 km 8-week stage swim in Canada to raise funds for COVID Relief. Despite living with Multiple Sclerosis, she swam every stroke on the way with the Spirit Orcas in addition to encouraging them and celebrating with them. For safely increasing the distance in her second difficult swim with the Spirit Orcas, for positively dealing with MS while shepherding along her swimmers, for safely achieving her goals with Cheyenne Furlong Goos, Meliah Motchman, Maria Sharock, Aly White, Dixon McGowan, Drew Sabourin, Ben Vanlierop, Lidia White, Susan Simmons is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.

World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year

Peace Route Swim (Turkey)
Nine swimmers, ages 33 to 60, from Turkey took on an ambitious goal: to swim 91.27 km from Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to the Turkish mainland. This was the first time this route had ever been attempted. Along the 37 hour 30 minute relay crossing in the Mediterranean Sea, Erman Akkaya (55), Temel Yakşi (60), Nükhet Atilgan (46), Mehmet Hilmi Soylu (43), Pelin Çelik (48), Zafer Özdem (60), Deniz Kayadelen (33), Burçak Tümay Pekel (33), and Murat Meto (47) encountered much marine life including sharks, while facing warm water and air. They laughed and they worried. They relaxed and they stressed out with the vastly dynamic sea conditions, ranging from a calm sea and tranquil conditions during the daytime hours to challenging turbulent conditions over night. For pioneering a new relay swim route from Northern Cyprus to the Turkish mainland, for bringing together young and older swimmers of both genders and various speeds in a successful relay, and for swimming for and celebrating peach through the expression of open water swimming on World Peace Day, the Peace Route Swim is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year.

World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year

Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Australia)
Australia’s relationship with freestyle dates back to the 19th century. Since the front crawl was first popularized Down Under, many of the greatest and most influential marathon swimmers in history have been trained in Australia and then ventured internationally to establish their legacies around the world. Christopher Guesdon and the Panel of Five worked diligently to establish the Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame this year. The Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to marathon swimmers and contributors released 37 names in August and a further 24 names in December in its inaugural Class of 2020/2021, an effort that collectively required thousands of hours of research and discussion by its nomination selection committees. For calling attention to the greatest Australian swimmers of all time, for promoting the accomplishments and achievements of Australian swimmers, coaches, organizations and handlers who through their career achievements have made a significant contribution to marathon swimming and for researching the history of the sport dating back generations, the Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.

Susan Simmons (Canada)

In an unprecedented challenging year, Susan Simmons stepped up in a huge way, characteristically with her selfless, humble, compassionate demeanor. The 55-year-old from British Columbia shifted her focus from her own marathon solo swimming career to coaching, mentoring and guiding the Spirit Orcas, a group of Special Olympic swimmers who did an 80 km 8-week stage swim in Canada to raise funds for COVID Relief. Despite living with Multiple Sclerosis, she swam every stroke on the way with the Spirit Orcas in addition to encouraging them and celebrating with them. For safely increasing the distance in her second difficult swim with the Spirit Orcas, for positively dealing with MS while shepperding along her swimmers, for safely achieving her goals with Cheyenne Furlong Goos, Meliah Motchman, Maria Sharock, Aly White, Dixon McGowan, Drew Sabourin, Ben Vanlierop, Lidia White, Susan Simmons is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.

Hope all is well with you and yours
P1010320 copy.MP4

I thought that I would send you the below podcast/interview with a national radio station.

Sioban has Multiple Sclerosis-she has limited movement of legs and other challenges but she was a pool swimmer. She contacted me in March to help her with the sea as her hotel pool closed. -and her choices were zero activity or using the freezing waters off our home beaches in March. Water temps 10deg
This is the lovely interview we did on national radio.
it was so challenging to work with her, as pushing her had it’s own problems, none greater than she had no choices but to be there.

The biggest challenge was trying to identify the signs and symptoms of cold water-when she needed to be there, she had no choice. The fear of stopping was so great, the ramifications of inactivity is something that MS sufferers cannot regain. She has been 3 weeks without therapy as everything shut down due to Covid19.

We started with aqua aerobics in 10 deg sea water, -baby steps and she had to spend an hour there without any experience..it was hell but we made it. Managing her recovery was also difficult but cold water is my greatest skill/and management of swimmers.

but we pushed on-she is now swimming distance and we are planning a crossing of smerwick harbour. which is a tough swim but I am confident I will get her there.
P1010289.MP4

amazing lady.

My nephew sent me the podcasts from my presentations..I must listen back
Re the WOWSA Live-
I am more free at the moment if you wished to do the talk? I would be delighted to share

Below is her story in her words..I have challenged her a big swim-to give her a focus.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/ballydavid-to-wine-strand-swim-for-tara-house-ms?utm_medium=email&utm_source=product&utm_campaign=p_email%2B4803-donation-alert-v5

https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/sea-swimming-siobhan-lowe-and-nuala-moore/id1468908607?i=1000483159340

Performance of the Year
Traverssia (Brazil)Travessia do Leme ao Pontal In 10 Hours 6 Minutes
Mariana Chevalier for becoming the youngest swimmer (16 years old) to complete the Traverseia do Leme ao Pontal on 03/14/20 with the time of 9h 42 min, personifying the spirit of swimming in open water, with a high sense of adventure, tenacity and perseverance.
Despite her young age, Mariana Chevalier stood out throughout the year 2020 for positively influen
HK360 by Alex Fong Lik-sun (Hong Kong)

Below is 2 nominations for the WOWSA (I do love to nominate the swims in Russia-They are so adventurous )
1. Performance of the Year -Relay crossing of Lake Baikal -5 swimmers crossing the deepest lake in the world.
2. Offering of the Year- Oleg Duchuchaev and his team offered and organised invitations for 4 relay in far east russia.
He and the winter swimming club ‘Kosatka DV’ joins hundreds of swimmers. We organize open water competitions all year round and organize long distance open water swimming events in summer.
For organising such adventurous relays, for inviting people to experience such extreme and also for hosting such safety protocols

Amur swim – 75km at the Amur river;
Peter the Great Gulf swim – 160km in the Sea of Japan here in Vladivostok;
Russky round swim – 75km around the island Russky
All those 4 relay swims were ecological events and raised awareness of wonderful areas of the world.

First Relay Swim crossing of Lake Baikal (non wetsuit)
50km 15 hrs
5 Swimmers
Here is the main data about Relay across Lake Baikal swim.
Organizer: Oleg Dokuchaev, the chief of the Olympic committee of Primorsky region of the Russian Federation, supported by the authorities of the Primorsky region and Irkutsk region and Russian Winter swimming association.
5 swimmers:
Oleg Dokuchaev, Maria Chizhova, Pavel Komarov, Eugene Zozulya – 4 are from Vladivostok and Andrey Bugay from Irkutsk.
(Oleg and Maria both swam the Bering Strait with us and Oleg was the Organising committee of the Bering Strait Relay)
The start was in Vydrino, Buryatia on the 4th of August 2020 at 2:25 p.m.
Ivan Dokuchaev, Oleg’s and Maria’s 5-years old son swam starting 50 meters and Maria began her first stage after 30 minutes -followed by Pavel Komarov, then Eugene Zozulya, Oleg Dokuchaev and Andrei Bugai. 30 min rotations.
Water temperature at the start point was 14 degrees Celsius but one hour later it was 12 degrees. The temperature of the lake continued to drop as the base of the Lake is at 0 deg water the entire year. As the team crossed the World’s Deepest lake, 7th largest. The teams continued the rotations through the night with air temperatures dropping to 5 deg air, making the swims much colder. The winds increased as well making it a challenging swim.
With 9 km to the finish water became colder and the final 2 km distance the team had to finish their swims in 5 degrees changing each other every 15 minutes.
Eugene Zozulya was the one to finish. It happened on the 5th of August at 6:36 a.m. Our finish point was Listvyanka, Irkutsk region.
While swimming we used swimming watches (Suunto, Garmin and Huawei) so that we could see actual data of our swimming such as GPS points, swimming pace (minutes per 100m), distance.
Here is short video about the event:

https://youtu.be/OZ8bPemBCmE

Экологический эстафетный заплыв "За чистый Байкал" (https://youtu.be/OZ8bPemBCmE)

Some History to Lake Baikal.
Baikal is the deepest lake on earth with 20% of all drinking water of our planet. Situated in the southern part of the Eastern Siberia. Its water mass is more than the water mass of 5 Great Lakes taken together. The maximum depth is 1642 meters. Water is incredibly clean and transparent. Water temperature at deep is about 0 degrees Celsius all year round that is why it was so cold at our finish point – Angara river is going out of Baikal in that place and it takes water from the deep.
Amazing swim from the team. The back to back immersions in such cold water is so difficult.
Below is the information on the other swims (offering of the year)
2.
23 of June. Amur river swim was devoted to the 75th anniversary of The Great Patriotic war so the distance was 75 km.
8 swimmers swam 75 km down the river and finished in Khabarovsk.
Here is the video https://youtu.be/nea1tGCM8eI
Swimmers: Oleg Dokuchaev, Maria Chizhova, Ivan Dokuchaev, Oksana Beletskaya from Vladivostok, Dmitry Voronin, Aleksander Komarov, Aleksey Balykov from Khabarovsk, Zaur Zakrailov and Zelimkhan Istambulov from Grozny.

3.
16-18 of July. Swim in The Peter the Great Gulf was devoted to the 160 anniversary of Vladivostok, 16 swimmers swam 160 km around the Empress Eugenie Archipelago. Governor of Primorsky region Oleg Kozhemyako swam starting 200 meters.
Here is the video https://youtu.be/xwirR2xlfoA . 2 cameramen were with us and they created a great video. We plan to translate it into English soon.
Swimmers: Oleg Dokuchaev, Maria Chizhova, Ivan Dokuchaev, Eugene Zozulya, Pavel Komarov, Oksana Beletskaya, Veronika Kuznetsova, Igor Galaktionov, Alexander Smirnov, Sergey Tyurin from Vladivostok, Dmitry Voronin and Ratmir Voronin from Khabarovsk, Zaur Zakrailov from Grozny, Andrey Bugai from Irkutsk, Tatiana Aleksandrova from Cheboksary and Oleg Adamov from Novosibirsk.

4.
20 of September. ‘Russky round’ swim. That is our traditional swim around the Russky island situated to the south of Vladivostok. This year we devoted it to the 75th anniversary of the end of the World War 2 and the distance was 75 km. 14 swimmers were changing each other every hour, stopped at night, and finished the next day in the center of the city.
Swimmers: Oleg Dokuchaev, Maria Chizhova, Ivan Dokuchaev, Pavel Komarov, Ivan Albutov, Sergey Tyurin from Vladivostok, Alexey Balykov, Aleksander Komarov, Alexey Sorokopud, Leonid Sorokopud, Dmitry Voronin, Dmitry Voronin jr., Dolgiy Valery from Khabarovsk and Tatiana Aleksandrova from Cheboksary.
Here is the video https://youtu.be/Q6yJTXLG5Ss

All those 4 Relay swims were ecological as we attracted society’s attention to ecological problems. We like nature we enjoy clean water and wish them to remain clean and unpolluted for future generations.
Thanks a mil

Offering of the Year
Rio by Lucas Rivet, starring Anthony McCarley
One more! Shannon House Keegan for creating a virtual space where swimmers can share their marathon swimming stories on a weekly forum. She enlists guests from all corners of the globe and treats each like an elite mentor to the sport, no matter distance they’ve chosen as their challenge. She is an amazing ambassador to the sport.

Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui
Why is the most asked question in the open water swimming world. Why did you cross the channel? Why do you swim in 0C water? Why did you swim the marathon? Why do you train so much? Why is also arguably the most difficult question to answer. But Bonnie Tsui pens the most eloquent response in her highly acclaimed book, Why We Swim. She explains the seduction of the water in its various forms – from the frigid cold to the tropical warmth – from myriad perspectives in San Francisco Bay, Japan, and Baghdad. For elevating the joy of swimming and the raison d’être in the water to millions of swimmers and non-swimmers alike, for becoming an Amazon best seller and Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020, for sharing her thoughts on how to answer the question ‘why?’, Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.

THE PONDS, Still Waters Run Deep by Patrick McLennan and Samuel Smith
Patrick McLennan and Samuel Smith captured the heart and soul of the swimmers of Hampstead Health, a well-established gathering place in London. The story of these swimmers of all ages and from all walks of life is the subject of their documentary film THE PONDS, Still Waters Run Deep. For over 200 years, the beauty and tranquility of the segregated Men’s, Ladies’ and Mixed Ponds has drawn swimmers to relax, revive and recover from the stress of their dryland existence. For showcasing the confidence and joy of swimmers emerging from the Ponds, for presenting dramatically inspirational cases of resilience and recreation by men and women, and for presenting relatable human stories in the backdrop of a historic pond, THE PONDS, Still Waters Run Deep by Patrick McLennan and Samuel Smith is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.

is a documentary film created by Laser Guided Productions about the open water swimmers who regularly enjoy the waters of Hampstead Heath in London. The film was produced by Patrick McLennan and Samuel Smith with original music by Dai Watts and executive producer Christopher Hird.

2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year Nomination

Watching a 60-year-old man swim non-stop for hours on end has never been more dramatic or profound. Lucas Rivet produced a sensational hit with his 33-minute documentary film Rio. Cameras above, below and on escort boats capture Anthony McCarley at his strongest and at his most vulnerable during the 36 km Travessia do Leme ao Pontal and the 39.7 km crossing attempt of Río de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay. With music and sound effects that pulsate throughout the film, McCarley shares his philosophical well-earned wisdom in a touching one-on-one relationship with the viewer. As the film fluctuates rhythmically between success and failure, teamwork and solitude, joy and fear, sunrise and sunset, McCarley constantly dispenses valuable life advice based on his own experiences and uncommon adventures in the oceans and rivers of the world. For its inspirational message that comes from the heart of a modern-day hero, for its camerawork that fills the screen with immensely powerful images, and for showcasing the strength of a humble adventurer, Rio is a worth nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.

WOWSA Review

A great film, a must see. Watching a 60-year-old man swim non-stop for hours on end has never been more dramatic or profound. Lucas Rivet produced a sensational hit with the 33-minute documentary film Rio. Cameras above, below and on escort boats capture Anthony McCarley at his strongest and at his most vulnerable during the 36 km Travessia do Leme ao Pontal and the 39.7 km crossing attempt of Río de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay. With music and sound effects that pulsate throughout the film, McCarley shares his philosophical well-earned wisdom in a touching one-on-one relationship with the viewer. As the film fluctuates rhythmically between success and failure, teamwork and solitude, joy and fear, sunrise and sunset, McCarley constantly dispenses valuable life advice based on his own experiences and uncommon adventures in the oceans and rivers of the world. Rivet has spun inspirational messages that come from the heart of a modern-day hero. His camerawork fills the screen with immensely powerful images that showcase the strength of a humble adventurer. See it, Rio.

Marathon Swim Stories
When COVID-19 hit and pools and shorelines closed as a result, open water swimming coach and mentor Shannon House Keegan took to the Internet. Keegan found a niche and touched many hearts with her new Marathon Swim Stories program. Marathon Swim Stories is a weekly podcast that captures the lives, lifestyles, challenges, training habits, and accomplishments of marathon swimmers and ice swimmers around the world. For establishing a friendly, educational and inspirational corner of the Internet entirely and specifically dedicated to open water swimming in various forms, for serving as an motivational ambassador and experienced coach for a growing number of people from all walks of life, and for providing thousands of enjoyable downloads for open water swimmers to listen, Marathon Swim Stories is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.

Why I Swim by Bonnie Tsui
Galilee Marathon Swimming Association Launched
Edit | Avada Live | Gutenberg Editor | Quick Edit | Trash | View | Clone | New Draft
Steven Munatones Edna Borenstein, Galilee Marathon Swimming Association, Malka Tenenbaum, open water swimming Avishag Turek, Edna Borenstein, Galilee Marathon Swimming Association, Malka Tenenbaum, Sea of Galilee, Yitzhak Yehezkel

Daily Medicine By Wayne William Snellgrove

Wayne William Snellgrove, a Saulteaux Indian, is an open water swimmer who started swimming in New Jersey after being taken from his birth mother at the Fishing Lake First Nation Reserve in Saskatchewan, Canada.

He wrote Daily Medicine, a spiritual prayer book, contains 366 meditations focused on Indigenous healing and spirituality.

He swam for the Jersey Wahoo’s Swim Club where he developed into one of America’s fastest butterflyers in high school.

But he unexpectedly tore his rotator cuff three months during his senior year before the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championship. His injury effectively put Snellgrove out of the water in his senior year. “The doctors said it was a career-ending injury, back in those days. Then, I got a diagnosed with a heart problem.

At the Princeton Medical Center, they did all sorts of tests on me. I had a rare heart defect, so I better not ever swim again and never exert itself. I was all set to go to one of the top swimming colleges. It put on the deep end. I ended up in rehab in New Hampshire for detox.

I have a hard head. I spent a year off getting sober. I got talked into swimming at a local YMCA in Massachusetts. One of my buddies asked me to join the swim team. I jumped in at Cape Ann YMCA and I got back into top shape really quickly. There was a YMCA Championships and broke several YMCA long-course national records.

There was a twist of fate. The head men’s coach of La Salle University [in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] offered me a scholarship on the spot. My dad jumped all over this. I was a Sixties Scoop* kid – this was a genocide policy. They didn’t want the Indian kids to grow up. I was taken from my mother when I was one-day old. They forced my mother to sign a parental release form. I had older brothers and a sister, so my mother went underground and left our reserve.

Early 2003 I went back to our reserve. My mother also went back.

So I was going up in a white world. It was unheard of back then. I grew up on a chip on both shoulders. I was angry. I was angry kid. But swimming was my outlet. The only thing that I couldn’t swim. I had no ability to swim. I saw all my friends be able to swim. So I was angry that I couldn’t swim. I begged my adopted dad to allow me to join the Jersey Yahoos.

When I got to the Jersey Yahoos, I just wanted to win. I wasn’t a nice kid and I took it out in the pool. I wanted to beat everyone. Every practice was one big race to me. I always wanted to win. At the end of my first year, I was one of the top swimmers in my age group. This was all due to my love of swimming and my passion for the water. It really fueled me. It was a great way to deal with my anger issues.

I grew up in fourth, fifth grade and studied social studies. When they talked about winning the West and the books talked about beating the savages. Then everyone looked at me. This was tough to take. I had a target on my back whether I wanted to or not. Every kid wanted to take a swing at me. I may not have won every fight, but the fight was repeated. Everything was settled on the field, outside. It was a different era back then. It was not litigious like today.

La Salle is where Eastern Championships are held every year.

I was in the beach patrol because Philadelphia was close to the New Jersey shore. Atlantic City called La Salle to ask if they had any swimmers to serve as lifeguards. This is where I met Sid Cassidy who was the [USA Swimming] national open water swimming team coach at the time. I really wasn’t that interested in open water swimming, but I think I won every mile swim that I entered during that first summer.”

Cassidy remembers Snellgrove as one really tough kid with great potential for open water swimming. “He was always working hard and extremely competitive.”

Snellgrove recalls those early days of his emerging open water swimming career. “The USA Swimming national team was training down in New Jersey shore back in 1990. So Sid threw me in with these swimmers including Chad Hundeby who previously won the world championships. I beat the national team swimmers on all the local beach swims. I was always competitive and wanting to race these guys.

I entered the 1994 USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships 5 km in Fort Lauderdale. I thought let me take a shot at this. I was training for pool swimming, but I did terrible. I cannot follow what these guys do. I thought about my old high school coach Chris Martin said, ‘There needs to be an unrelenting pursuit of excellence.’

So I knew things needed to change. I decided that I will jump in a pool when I need to, but I needed to train as I saw fit.

I completely changed my training. I changed my stroke. The race didn’t start until the halfway point. So I had to train for the last 3, 4 hours of every race. It made no sense to me to jump in the water and do a million laps. I made that decision myself. I did 15-20 minutes on the erg machine, getting a good fatigue going. When I was jumped in the water, my technique was terrible. I have had serious shoulder injuries. I have to have an economy of motion. I need to be streamlined and smooth as possible. Everyone’s stroke falls apart in the second half of the race. I got angry. I am not going to train to die in the second half; I am going to train to dominate the second half.

I asked the coaches to allow me in the weight room before the workouts. I did that for 4-5 months. The next national championships were in Fort Lauderdale. The next championships were where I won the first 5 km. Everything changed after that. I thought that I could be good in the 10 km and then the 25 km.

I thought I needed to train to dominate. Then that is what you are going to do. I always entered the water and I could barely raise my arms or walk across the pool deck. I broke down my stroke and then worked on technique about my reach, rotation, body position. My shoulders depended on equal rotation on both sides. I knew when I was tired, I knew that I always had to dig a bit deeper.

I would grab a friend and ask them to follow me on a kayak. The second, third and fourth hours of my training swims were faster than the first half. So when I won the [USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships] 10 km race in Melbourne, Florida, I negative split – exactly the way I trained.”

Snellgrove ended up doing ocean swim from Florida to California (La Jolla Rough Water Swim) to Hawaii (Waikiki Roughwater Swim) as well as a bunch of 15 km races and 25 km races both on the national and international levels. At one time, he was even living on the beach (as a homeless person) while training with comfortably housed teammates at the International Swimming Hall of Fame facilities in Fort Lauderdale.

He unfortunately endured numerous shoulder injuries that effectively his career. But before his career was curtailed, he represented the USA at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and won a 10 km national championship.

After decades of reflection, Snellgrove is now into a much more creative and spiritual part of his life. “I am more calm and combining different aspects of my biological family and native background. I no longer need to be angry. I am all about spreading the love and peace.”

* The Sixties Scoop refers to the Canadian practice, beginning in the 1960s and continuing until the late 1980s, of apprehending unusually high numbers of children of Aboriginal peoples in Canada and fostering or adopting them out, usually into non aboriginal families. An estimated 20,000 children were taken from their families and fostered or adopted out to primary white middle-class families.

The Galilee Marathon Swimming Association was on a roll. Co-founders Guy Cohen and Eyal Schachner compiled several decades of historical data about widthwise and lengthwise crossings of the Sea of Galilee since 1944. They planned, prepared and promoted the longest and most difficult solo swimming course in Israel in order to meet a growing domestic and international interest. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everything came grinding to a hall. But the Association got busy after lockdowns and travel restrictions were lifted and were able to organize and ratify the marathon swims and relays of 34 swimmers. For their energy, wisdom, seriousness that Guy Cohen and Eyal Schachner bring to the sport of marathon swimming, for their meticulous planning and organization of swims in the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea, for their website and resources that they make available to the international community, the Galilee Marathon Swimming Association is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.

The Sea of Galilee Perimeter Swim was a breakout celebration stage swim held in the Sea of Galilee in Israel in the year of a pandemic. 18 Israeli swimmers swam 18.1 km, 15.7 km and 13.4 km during the three-day stage swim held near the entire shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. The unprecedented 48 km cumulative perimeter swim presented logistical difficulties and a large escort crew, but the tandem swim was successful in making all three days, swimming 48 km in total. For initiating another environmental challenge where the theme is to keep the Sea of Galilee clean and safe, for the original vision of Ami Ginsberg to established a new marathon course and offer a celebration of open water swimming , and for all 18 swimmers who showed selflessness throughout, embodying teamwork and experiencing a close camaraderie throughout their three days at sea, the Sea of Galilee Perimeter Swim is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.

2020 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year Nomination

WOWSA Review

A great film, a must see. Watching a 60-year-old man swim non-stop for hours on end has never been more dramatic or profound. Lucas Rivet produced a sensational hit with his 33-minute documentary film Rio. Cameras above, below and on escort boats capture Anthony McCarley at his strongest and at his most vulnerable during the 36 km Travessia do Leme ao Pontal and the 39.7 km crossing attempt of Río de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay. With music and sound effects that pulsate throughout the film, McCarley shares his philosophical well-earned wisdom in a touching one-on-one relationship with the viewer. As the film fluctuates rhythmically between success and failure, teamwork and solitude, joy and fear, sunrise and sunset, McCarley constantly dispenses valuable life advice based on his own experiences and uncommon adventures in the oceans and rivers of the world. Rivet has spun inspirational messages that come from the heart of a modern-day hero. His camerawork fills the screen with immensely powerful images that showcase the strength of a humble adventurer. See it, Rio

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