Skipping into History

Dale Petranech announced Skip Storch as one of the newest inductees in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame this week.

Skip was one of the five nominees for the 2008 ESPY Awards in the Best Outdoor Athlete primarily due to his triple circumnavigation of Manhattan Island in 32 hours 52 minutes. After his record-breaking swim, Skip was hospitalized for muscle tears, abrasions and hypothermia. This swim was dramatically captured in film and is partially shown on Skip's website.

In addition to the Triple, Skip has done the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, a 20-mile swim in the Hudson River, a 153-mile staged swim from Albany to New York City, a wetsuit-assisted 85-mile swim along the New Jersey coast, a 100-mile wetsuit-assisted swim along the length of the Long Island Sound, a 15-mile swim along the length of the East River through Hell’s Gate, a 33-mile attempt from Cuba to Florida in a shark cage, a 41 hour 30 minute staged swim in the Hudson River to the Albany Yacht Club to Pier A Battery Park in New York City.

Skip's swims are colorfully described in Tim Johnson's History of Open Water Marathon Swimming.

Photo of Skip Storch by Gulnara Samoilova.