Great Open Water Swims of 2009

Every year, hundreds of thousands of individuals of every age, ability, background attempt and complete open water swims in every conceivable body of water around the world.

2009 was no different - none of which could be possible without the tremendous help of escort boat pilots, crews, kayakers, race organizers and volunteers.

You can vote on the World's Greatest Open Water Swims of 2009 in a poll here. Below are our choices with the full realization that the season (English Channel and Southern Hemisphere) is not yet over and many others have different opinions. Your comments and suggestions are greatly welcomed.

1. 120K Lake Taupo triple-crossing in January in New Zealand. Women's team (33 hours 33 minutes) included Julie Bradshaw/Lucy Roper (England), Michelle Macy (USA), Barbara Pellick/Penny Palfrey (Australia) and Heather Osborn (New Zealand). Men's team (33 hours 31 minutes) included Steve Junk/Chris Palfrey/Stephen Spence/Dougal Hunt (Australia) and Mark Cockroft (New Zealand).

Significance: Established longest continuous relay swim conducted under English Channel rules by all-star teams of 12 established marathon swimmers.

2. Ram Barkai and Andrew Chin's 2.2K winter swim in Lake Zurich in February in Switzerland.

Significance: No wetsuits in 39°F (4°C) water with 32°F (0°C) air temperature and 19°F (-7°C) wind chill.



3. Riaan Schoeman’s one-second victory over Chad Ho and 13 Olympians in South Africa's Midmar Mile in February.

Significance: Time was fastest among nearly 19,000 entrants in the world's most popular competitive open water race.






4. Penny Palfrey’s 14 hour and 51 minute 70K (43-mile) Alenuihaha Channel crossing from the Big Island of Hawaii to Maui in March.

Significance: first female crossing of the treacherous, shark-infested, very difficult channel in Hawaii.



5. Melissa Gorman’s 5K victory at the World Swimming Championships in July.

Significance: Exciting last-stroke upset victory over the most dominant professional marathon swimmer of the current era.


6. Angela Maurer’s 25K victory at the World Swimming Championships in July.

Significance: 35-year-old mother beats the world’s best professional marathon swimmers under tough conditions.






7. Tasmin Powell’s 11 hour 34 minute 70K Round Jersey circumnavigation in July.

Significance: 15-year-old home-grown swimmer from Jersey swims quickly while battling elements and seasickness.


8. Chantelle Le Guilcher’s 10 hour 37 minute 70K Round Jersey circumnavigation in July.

Significance: 15-year-old home-grown swimmer from Jersey swims quickly while battling elements.




9. Keri-Anne Payne’s 10K victory at the World Swimming Championships in July.

Significance: Led nearly the entire way against the toughest and fastest female field assembled in 2009.






10. Thomas Lurz’s double victory in the 5K and 10K races at the World Swimming Championships in July.

Significance: Two victories came back-to-back over a 2-day period against the world’s fastest men.


11. Petar Stoychev’s 6 hour 58 minute victory in the 32K Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean in July.

Significance: 9th consecutive victory in the world's most famous professional marathon swim against the world's fastest marathon swimmers.





12. Valerio Cleri’s 25K victory at the World Swimming Championships in July.

Significance: Hard-fought comeback victory under tremendous pressure in his home country against world’s fastest marathon swimmers.





13. Rostislav Vitek’s crossing of the English Channel in 7 hours and 16 minutes in August.

Significance: Fastest English Channel crossing of 2009, fourth fastest solo single-crossing of all time.



14. Jade Scognamillo’s 19 hour 59 minute 52K crossing of Lake Ontario in August.

Significance: 15-year-old becomes the youngest person to ever swum Lake Ontario, Canada.



15. Kane Radford’s victory in the US$10,000 RCP Tiburon Mile in September.

Significance: Fast 1-mile swim against several Olympic gold medalists and world champions in a winner-take-all sprint in cold San Francisco Bay.





16. Andrew Smilley’s overall 107th placing among nearly 800 swimmers in the RCP Tiburon Mile in September.

Significance: Special Olympian from Cayman Islands placed 3rd in the 19-29 age in the non-wetsuit division in the San Francisco Bay in his first cold-water experience.

17. Camlough Team's Guinness World Record for the Longest Continuous Open Water Relay Swim of 685.5K (426.5 miles) in northern Ireland.

Significance: Preparation and logistics of organizing 220 swimmers to swim non-stop over 232 hours and 52 minutes (9 nights and 10 days).

18. Liz Fry’s 11 hour 41 minute reverse 48K circumnavigation of Manhattan Island in September.

Significance: Shattered the existing record of 17:48 which had only been done once before by a man (Kris Rutford in 1995).

19. Liane Llewellyn's 27 hour 35 minute double-crossing of the English Channel in August.

Significance: Resilience under extremely difficult conditions.







19. Lisa Cummins's 35 hour 31 minute double-crossing of the English Channel in September.

Significance: Amazing battle against time and elements in her first attempt in the English Channel.



20. Karen Rodgers' 10 hour 50 minute 21.5-mile crossing of Lake Tahoe in California in August.

Significance: Cold-water swim at 6,225 feet (1,897 meters) in altitude.



21. Patti Bauernfeind's 10 hour and 38 minute 21.5-mile crossing of Lake Tahoe in California in August.

Significance: Broke two-week-old record at 6,225 feet (1,897 meters) in altitude.



22. Julian Crabtree's 44-mile staged swim during the 4-part Great Swim series.

Significance: Started and finished every single heat of every 1-mile swim in 4 different lakes during the Great Swim series.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Winning World-class Workouts

We had the opportunity to ask many of the world's best pool and open water swimmers what their most difficult practice was before the RCP Tiburon Mile this year. They gave us some insight into the incredible amount of hard work these young athletes do in order to become world-class. Here is a sampling of their workouts (all in 50-meter pool unless indicated):

Olympian and world 5K champion Melissa Gorman: 3000 + 2000 + 1000 @ 1:10 pace

Waikiki Roughwater Swim champion Luane Rowe: 10 x 800, descend 1-5

Olympic gold medalist and MythBuster Nathan Adrian: annual 24,000-yard practice on New Year's Day. "We did all kinds of stuff that took 6-7 hours total."

Olympic gold medalist Caroline Burckle: 20 x 400 every other 400 fast

World 25K champion Brendan Capell: 21 x 500 alternating 1 @ 6:10 + 1 @ 6:00 + 1 @ 5:50

World 5K and 10K champion Vladimir Dyatchin: 10 x 2500 @ 1:10 pace per 100-meter interval

World 5K and 10K silver medalist Ekaterina Seliverstova (shown above): 6 x 2000 @ 1:13 pace per 100 meters + 10 x 1000

World championship swimmer Eva Fabian: 50 x 100 @ 1:10 in 25-yard pool + 1-hour for time (did 5700 yards). Other tough workout was 2000 (descend each 500) + 3 x 500 + 2 x 100 + 2000 (descend each 500) + 3 x 500 + 2 x 100 + 2000 (descend each 500) + 3 x 500 + 2 x 100

Pan American Games medalist and RCP Tiburon Mile founder Bob Placak: 10 x 500 with last 500-yard swim at 4:33

2-time Waikiki Roughwater Swim champion and world 25K silver medalist Trent Grimsey: 15 x 500 @ 5:40, descend 1-3 (last set of 3 was 5:12, 5:10, 5:05)

Olympic gold medalist Ous Mellouli: 100 x 100, "done in high school in France on a crazy interval"

All-American J.K. Koehler: 30 x 1000 @ 11:30 interval (in a 25-yard pool) that "took 7 hours by myself, but I did it again in college with some teammates"

Olympian and world 5K bronze medalist Chloe Sutton: 30 x 100 @ 1:15 averaging 1:05-1:06 per 100 meters

RCP Tiburon Mile champion Kane Radford: 10,000 swim for time

These practices remind us of the tough workouts that 7-time world professional marathon swimming champion Paul Asmuth did at Mission Viejo Nadadores under coach Mark Schubert and the famously tough individual medley workouts that Olympic silver medalist Allison Wagner used to do.

Photo of Ekaterina Seliverstova by Daylife Publishers.

RCP Tiburon Mile Winners Take Different Approaches

Kane Radford took control of the RCP Tiburon Mile right from the start with two-time RCP Tiburon Mile champion Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia and defending champion Trent Grimsey of Australia taking their own lines towards the finish. But, it was Kane Radford of New Zealand who won the US$10,000 winner-take-all first prize in the 65˚F (17˚C) waters in San Francisco Bay this morning.

"I was grateful that I had the best line [to the finish], said Kane who finished comfortably ahead in 22:13 over Grimsey's 22:13 and Dyatchin's 22:50.

The women's race was a third-women battle between Melissa Gorman of Australia, Eva Fabian and Chloe Sutton of the USA.

There were several lead changes in the short 1.2-mile sprint race, but the swimmers were all aware of each other throughout the race. As the three women came into the harbor, Chloe and Eva went a little wide as they were swimming shoulder-to-shoulder, allowing Melissa to put on a final kick. "I saw an opening," Melissa said.

Melissa finished a stroke and a step ahead of Eva and Chloe in a close finish (24:06 to 24:08 to 24:09). "I've never won so much money in a race," said Melissa. "I am not sure what I am going to do with the money yet."

A more comprehensive story on the race is here at Swimming World Magazine.

Overall men's results:
1. Kane Radford, New Zealand, 22:13
2. Trent Grimsey, Australia, 22:18
3. Vladimir Dyatchin, Russia, 22:50
4. Ous Mellouli, Tunisia, 23:47
5. Andrew Beato, Australia, 23:58
6. John Koehler Jr., USA, 24:20
7. Thiego Pereira, Brazil, 24:23
8. Brendan Capell, Australia, 24:42
9. Zach Hansford, Australia, 24:44
10. Ben Hinshaw, USA 25:17

Overall women's results:
1. Melissa Gorman, Australia, 24:06
2. Eva Fabian, USA, 24:08
3. Chloe Sutton, USA, 24:09
4. Britta Kamrau, Germany, 24:24
5. Ekaterina Seliverstova, Russia, 24:41
6. Luane Rowe, Australia, 24:53
7. Stacey Hansford, Australia, 25:51
8. Taylor Nanfria, USA 25:58
9. Caitlin Leverenz, USA 26:00
10. Lauren Matevish, USA, 26:02

Photo shows the elite swimmer start on Angel Island, 1.2 miles away from Tiburon across the San Francisco Bay.

Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source

Doing The Ilchenko in Mt Maunganui

Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko is well-known for winning races in dramatic fashion at the very end. We call her classic open water move, The Ilchenko.

Australian David Browne (see photo on left) pulled The Ilchenko on Kane Radford at the 2.8K Sand to Surf, Mt Maunganui Swim, the fourth of five races on the Sovereign New Zealand Ocean Swim Series.


With nearly perfect conditions and out in front of the other 697 swimmers, David and Kane battled it out mano-a-mano throughout the entire race before David did The Ilchenko less than 200 meters from the beach finish to defeat Kane. "David just swam a brilliant race, he was never far from my hip or my toes and just had a little bit more at the end to out run me up the beach. It was a great race though, tight all the way and a case of waiting, waiting, waiting to see who would move first. Coming down the stretch I went a little left, David a little right and he just nudged me to the beach," said the gracious Kane.

David explained his strategy, "I knew I had to wear him down, he is such a strong swimmer and swam so well in Aussie at our nationals a month back. It was toe to toe, stroke for stroke, we both started fast to drop some of the pool swimmers and then I just found something to bring it home. Over the final few hundred meters, we both hammered it, this was a great race to win."

The women's race was also tactical with Charlotte Webby beating established star Kate Brookes-Peterson and finishing eighth overall. "I sat with [Kate] early, but when she put her foot down, she opened up a gap of about 100 meters and there was little I could do. But around the back i made some great ground through good navigation and sensed my chance. I went straight and that proved the difference, I'm delighted."

The Jury is Out: Alannah is In

Today's Australian Open Water Swimming Championship also doubled up as Swimming New Zealand's World Swimming Championships qualification race. 17-year-old Alannah Jury earned her way to the selection to the World Swimming Championships in Roma after finishing third in the 10K race in Sydney.

Getting a little taste of what she will experience at the World Championships, Alannah overcame some aggressive tactics from her competition during the 10K race. Two swimmers were given yellow cards after swimming over Alannah as the lead pack was entering their final lap. Stopping to recover, Alannah caught up and had enough kick to sprint for the coveted world championship spot (she had to finish in the top four to automatically qualify).

Swimming New Zealand Distance and Open Water Programme Manager Philip Rush was delighted. "Alannah was quite outstanding. It was a beautiful swim from her today. The women’s field was very classy and Alannah showed she has learned a lot in a short time. She showed real courage to come back after getting clobbered with only a lap to go. She hung in there and fought really well."

Philip said Alannah worked on different open water swimming tactics and swam well according to her game plan.

On the men's side, Phillip Ryan finished sixth after pushing the pace in the second half after a slow first half of the race. "It was a big effort from Phillip and clearly his best effort at this level. The pace was pretty slow early on and I was delighted that he took the initiative to force the pace. He was only 10 seconds off the podium and that was really pleasing," said Philip (Rush).

Phillip finished 7 seconds outside Swimming New Zealand's selection criteria (to be within 30 seconds of the winner if out of the top four), so Philip (Rush) will present his case to the national governing body for consideration.

Full results can be seen here.

Photo of the 10K start at the 2008 World Championships by blueseventy.

Looking Under the Surface

Back in April, an alarming story from Australia about a 5K race at the 2008 Australian Age Open Water Swimming Championships in Lake Kawana caught the hit the attention of concerned adults and open water swimming enthusiasts worldwide (see photos from finish at left).


The headlines blared 'Six Teenagers Collapse after Lake Kawana Swim'. After reviewing the race results and learning that hundreds of 13-18 year old boys and girls completed the swim, we asked Australian National Team Open Water coach Greg Towle, a very experienced waterman and open water coach, for his comments about the actual swim.

"All the swimmers had to qualify in an approved open water swimming meet to compete and all had swum the [10K] distance prior to the event. All the qualifying times were checked and submitted by their respective state associations. Additionally, all swimmers had to have coaches and/or their guardians agree to their fitness and ability to compete."

"There was adequate water safety support and planning was in place, with first aid on site. It was our National Age Championships. There was a swimmer who suffered a dislocated shoulder (see photo on left), but it will not be the first or last [injury] in the sport."

"The majority of the swimmers participated the day before in the 5K km in perfect conditions. On the day of the 10K, we experienced strong winds on the same course with the same swimmers. Even the strongest and eventual winners swam well over their times from the day before on the way through the 5K. The final times were well off their best and all swimmers found the course extremely tough."

No swimmers were forced to compete or finish the race unless it was of their own accord. To the swimmers’ credit, there were very few DNF’s.

Most importantly, there were no serious health concerns and the swimmer with the dislocation was appropriately treated by medical staff.

The swim was won by Kane Radford who is one of the favorites at the upcoming Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Guam.

The headlines and photos certainly caught our attention, but it appears that the organizers had the race under control, despite the tough conditions, with adequate safety measures and procedures that were up to par with the expertise and experience commonly demonstrated by Australia beach safety patrols.*

* At the 2007 World Swimming Championships, there was a squall that hit during the women’s 25K race, and we observed first-hand how the Australian life saving staff performed professionally and quickly, rescuing dozens of swimmers in the water and dozens of staff on flooting pontoons and in small escort boats.

Yvonne Mooyman of the Black Rock Icebergers can also attest to the fast-action of Australian water safety patrols and race officials who rescued her from a shark during a swim. Just a few examples of the professionalism of our Australian colleagues.

Photos from the Australian Age Open Water Swimming Championships were taken by Che Chapman. Additional photos of the race can be seen here.

Photos of the Melbourne squall during the 25K race were taken by Dr. Jim Miller.

Open Water Preview of London 2012?

Notwithstanding the young and accomplished open water elite like Larisa Ilchenko, Ana Marcela Cunha, Chad Ho and Chip Peterson, Guam will play host to some very fast young guns in the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 10K race on January 12th.

To compete against battle-tested Kane Radford from New Zealand, Australia’s fast Belinda Bennett and a top contingent from Canada including Zsofia Balasz and Craig Dagnall, USA Swimming will send 5 teenagers to Guam.

Eva Fabian of Greenwood Memorial Swim Club (coached by Jack Fabian), Kelly Baird of Winston Salem YMCA Swim Team (coached by Mike Brady), Deni Cullom of Mission Viejo Nadadores (coached by Bill Rose), Sean Ryan of Scenic City Aquatics Club (coached by Stan Corcoran) and Harry Stephenson of Gulf Coast Swim Team (coached by Don Henshaw) will race 4 loops of a 2.5K triangular course in Tumon Bay, Guam's most popular beach.

Going mano-a-mano, goggle-to-goggle and shoulder-to-shoulder around 12 buoy turns will not only be exciting, but also an excellent proving ground for those with dreams of representing their country in London 2012. The winner will undoubtedly balance great aerobic conditioning and fast closing speed with excellent race tactics and a high degree of navigational IQ.

Despite her size, diminutive Eva Fabian, who can be seen in the red cap (towards the left) on the November 2008 cover of of Swimming World Magazine, will be someone to contend with. "I love competing in the open water," said Eva after doing well at the 2008 RCP Tiburon Mile.

Up-and-coming athletes 18 year and under swimmer from Canada, Australia, China, USA, Japan, New Zealand, Bermuda, Mexico, Guam, El Salvador and Costa Rica will compete at the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in January.

Open Water Showdown in Guam

18-year-old Kane Radford of New Zealand will reportedly compete in the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championship 10K race in Guam on January 12th, 2009.

Kane will showcase his talents against other young up-and-comers from Australia, Canada and the U.S. in Guam's beautiful Tumon Bay.

Kane recently upset Trent Grimsey in New Zealand's largest open water swim, the Sovereign Harbour Crossing. This was a telling victory because Trent had earlier won the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the RCP Tiburon Mile and the Eyeline 1000 Noosa Ocean Swim this year.

Kane is preparing for the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championship 10K race in Southern California with the famed distance training group at the Mission Viejo Nadadores under Bill Rose. "This is an amazing chance for me. To train with Bill Rose and his squad who focus on long-distance training is incredible."

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it will be a great race, possibly with some of the open water stars of the London 2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.

Lower photo shows Kane finishing first at the Sovereign Harbour Crossing. finish line.

Three-peat for Radford in the Harbour

Scott Rice, one of the nominees for the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year (see below), is one of the few people who can halt all marine traffic in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city.

But, it was 18-year-old Kane Radford who was the talk of the town after his surprisingly powerful win over Trent Grimsey who won the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the RCP Tiburon Mile and the Eyeline 1000 Noosa Ocean Swim earlier this year.

In only its fifth year, Rice has built up the Sovereign Harbour Crossing, to be the biggest ocean swim in New Zealand, attracting 1,440 entrants to the 2.8K race from Bayswater to downtown Auckland. The Sovereign Harbour Crossing is the first of five races in the popular Sovereign New Zealand Ocean Swim Series. In a country of only 4.1 million people, this is equivalent of having 103,000 swimmers in a single open water swim in the U.S.

Radford was not given an opportunity to qualify for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, but he apparently has plans to rectify that situation for London in 2012. Radford will soon start training with Olympian open water swimmer Chloe Sutton and the famed distance training group at the Mission Viejo Nadadores under Bill Rose, the head open water swimming coach for the US. "This is an amazing chance for me. To train with Bill Rose and his squad who focus on long-distance training is incredible."

Radford swam across the Waitemata Harbour (Auckland) in 33:00, easily out-swimming Australian Grimsey (34:12) and young Aucklander Brett Newall (34:14). Double world championship bronze medalist Kate Brookes-Peterson, a native of New Zealand who is now an Australian citizen, came back home to win in 34:25 far ahead of Penelope Marshall in 36:51 and Charlotte Webby in 37:21.

Rice says the five-year milestone is a special one for the event. "In the five years of the Sovereign Harbour Crossing, we have built up real tradition and history in what is now an iconic event on the Auckland sporting and recreation calendar. Anyone can drive across the harbour bridge, take a ferry from wharf to wharf and some of us are lucky enough to have sailed in pleasure craft on the harbour. But it is a rare opportunity to be able to swim across the harbour with the support of Surf Lifesaving New Zealand, the Coastguard and the port authorities. That is part of what makes this event so special, the rare nature of it and the sheer challenge of it. For many people this is the biggest and most demanding event they will take on in their lives. Consequently the sense of achievement upon making the finish line is huge. The smiles on the faces of all who make it bring as much joy to us as organizers as it does to them as individuals."

One of the finishers was 74-year-old Dick Smith who completed his first open water swim in 1951 and finished this race in 1:00:36.

Upper photo of Radford at finish line. Middle photo of Kane after race. Lower photo of Kate Brookes-Peterson at the 2007 World Swimming Championships.

Reminder: the World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year and the World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year voting continues. Click here for more details of the male nominees and here for the female nominees.