This August, two young Canadians did their best to revive the proud history of marathon swimming: Richard Weinberger and Annaleise Carr.
Both generated a lot of media attention…and deservedly so.
22-year-old Weinberger swam to a bronze medal in the Olympic marathon swim in the Serpentine at the Olympic Games in the toughest, deepest field in the sport, positioning him as a force to be reckoned with over the next Olympic quadrennial.
14-year-old Carr became the youngest person to swim across Lake Ontario. Her 26 hour 41 minute effort over the traditional 0.5 km Marilyn Bell route captured the public’s attention.
Not only did she bring attention to the sport, but she also raised over C$135,000 for Camp Trillium. Her passion and personality were just the right boost to keep open water swimming in the news in Canada.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.