While the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation and the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association were holding their annual banquets in Southern California on Saturday, their counterparts in Dover, England were enjoying their own festivities on the same day. The successful swimmers of the 2012 season who crossed the English Channel under the governance of
After an initial mechanical hiccup between San Francisco (SF) and Santa Barbara (SB) that caused the lead escort boat Sequel to stop in Santa Cruz (SC), the Night Train Swimmers re-grouped and decided to carry on with their mission. So unexpectedly haunted by a broken throttle, the Night Train Swimmers had to limp into shore in Santa Cruz. But, like the
Peter Frayne (shown on left), a retired police officer whose beat was along the Dover waterfront who served as the Honorable Assistant Secretary of the Channel Swimming Association, passed away earlier this year at the age of 92. Marathon swimmer Dr. Harry Huffaker (shown on right with Frayne) remembers his good friend who also served in his wedding.
The Big Moment in everyone's open water swim (race or solo channel crossing) is different, profound and memorable for the individual. For many marathon and channel swimmers, triathletes, newcomers and others, they estimate the sport is 70-90% mental and 10-30% physical with smaller elements of fate, teamwork, nutrition/hydration, acclimatization, weight
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Penny Palfrey is also the only known open water swimmer to have swum near (over) two Great White Sharks and several oceanic white tips and other unnamed sharks both in broad daylight and at night during her marathon swims. So it is no wonder that she uses the Shark Shield as her sense of self-preservation
DOVER, English Michael Read MBE, President of the Channel Swimming Association, reminds people of the year 1962, the only year in the past 50 when the weather was so bad that there was not a single successful swim across the English Channel that year. Michael Jennings, a two-time English Channel swimmer, recalls, "Amazingly there were no successful swims,
The Channel Swimming Association recognized 38 solo swim successes, one 2-way relay by the first-ever 4 person team and 32 one-way relays across the English Channel during the 2011 season. The athletes came from 9 different countries and from all walks of life as took up a challenge that relatively few humans do. From a range of 9 hours 3 minutes for
As more swimmers take to the water, more monies are raised for a number of causes. From the ubiquitous Polar Bear Swims in December and January where hundreds or thousands of people participate in a cold-water dip to channel swimmers, the charitable efforts of swimmers is renowned. In the English Channel with the Channel Swimming Association, there have
Sometimes a swim buddy truly lives up to the name.A pacemaker (or pace swimmer) is an individual who swims alongside or near a channel swimmer or marathon swimmer to protect, pace or accompany the swimmer. There are specific rules that apply to the number, time and time of duration for the pacemakers by the channel swimming organizations and governing
The Channel Swimming Association annually presents numerous trophies and awards to its successful soloists and relay members. Rebecca Lewis (photo on right) received four different awards by the Channel Swimming Association for her exploits in the 2010 English Channel season:C.S.A. Gold Medal (Fastest Swim of the Year) - Rebecca Lewis, 8:35C.S.A. Centenary
