David Meca, A Hall of Famer

Dale Petranech announced David Meca Medina as one of the newest inductees in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame this week.

David was not only the 1998, 2000 and 2005 world marathon swimming champion and a USC swimmer, but he also won 25 FINA World Cup races and was ranked number one in the 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003 FINA World Cup circuit.

David was tirelessly competitive throughout his professional marathon swimming career, winning numerous races in his native Spain as well as in Macedonia, Egypt, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, USA, Finland, U.K., Croatia and Canada.


At the 2000 World Open Water Swimming Championships, David won a gold in the 25K and 2 silvers in the 5K and 10K to single-handedly lead Spain to a silver-medal team finish.

In an impressive body of solo swimming work, David swam 110K (68.3 miles) from Tenerife Island to Gran Canaria Island in 23 hours and 50 minutes in 2002 and 130K (80.7 miles) from the Spanish mainland to Ibiza Island in 26 hours and 30 minutes in 2006.

He broke the Strait of Gibraltar record by more than 40 minutes with a 2 hour 29 minute crossing in 1999 and did a 14 hour 5 minute triple crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar in 2008. He also swam fromGomera Island to Tenerife Island in the Canary Islands in 8 hours and swam the English Channel twice, in 7 hours 40 minutes in 2004 and 7 hours and 22 minutes in 2005, and swam 100K (62 miles) up the Guadalquivir River in Spain (against the current) in 2007.

David's record has been called into question in certain circles, but to David's credit, he has invited media representatives on his solo swims and as well as representatives of the Capitania Maritima (Merchant Marine) during his solo swims in Spain.

David has combined elite world-class swimming with a sense of solo adventure and a desire to travel the world doing what he loves. Back on land, he is also accomplished as an actor and TV host in his native Spain.

All photos from the David Meca website.