#1. Martin Strel [shown above]: 5,269 Stage Swim of the Amazon in 66 days (Respect Rating of 11) #2. Diana Nyad: 177 km Cuba to Florida Swim in 52 hours 54 minutes (Respect Rating of 10) #3. Dave Cornthwaite‘s 1,610 km Missouri 1000 (Respect Rating of 9) #4. Lewis Pugh: 1 km North Pole Swim in 18 minutes 50 seconds in -1.8°C (Respect Rating of 9) #5. Sean Conway: 1,448 km stage swim the Length of Britain in 135 days (Respect Rating of 7) #6. Ka’iwi Channel 45 km crossing between Molokai and Oahu in Hawaii (Respect Rating of 6) #7. Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, 46 km circumnavigation in New York (Respect Rating of 5) #8. Wild River Swimming in England (Respect Rating of 2)
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.