The Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1990's
Any list of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the Decade is, by necessity, subjective. But it is certainly fun to discuss and debate among open water swimming historians and fans. Below are our choices for the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1990's.
This selection of the Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1990's is based on four criteria with the following priority:
1. Champions - or swimmers who won major international races against the best swimmers of their era
2. Pioneers - or swimmers who completed unprecedented extreme swims of any distance in any location
3. Record Holders - or swimmers who set records across channels, lakes, seas, either in competition or on a solo swim
4. Endurers - or swimmers who swam for distance in any open body of water at various temperatures
That is, if a Champion is compared to a Pioneer, with all other things being equal, the Champion was given more weight in this subjective list. Similarly, if a Pioneer is compared to a Record Holder, with all other things being equal, the Pioneer is given placed higher in this subjective list. If a Record Holder is compared to an Endurer, with all things being equal, the Record Holder iss considered slightly higher than the Endurer in this subjective list.
Of course, if this subjective criteria were ordered differently (e.g., if Record Holders or Endurers carried more weight than Champions or Pioneers), then the ordering would undoubtedly be different - and so would many of the listed swimmers. This is, some would rise in the list and others would fall or be replaced.
That being said, many swimmers on this list of the 1990's proved themselves over their careers as a Champion, a Pioneer, a Record Holder, and an Endurer. Additionally, many swimmers competed in more than one decade. Because there are so many worthy candidates, each swimmer was honored in only one decade, that decade of their prime performances.
This list only includes solo and competitive swimmers. It includes swimmers - of both genders and of any age - who specialize in channel swimming, marathon swimming, extreme swimming, stage swimming, high-altitude swimming, ice swimming, and winter swimming in lakes, bays, rivers, oceans, seas, reservoirs, lochs, fjords, canals, and carved-out pool in frozen bodies of water. This list does not include pilots, coaches, authors, race directors, documentary filmmakers, seconds, crew members, or administrators. These individuals will be included in a follow-up series, The Best Open Water Swimming Personalities of the Decade, that will be subsequently published.
Best Open Water Swimmers of the 1990's
1. Shelley Taylor-Smith, Australia [shown above]
2. Aleksey Akatyev, Russia
3. Chad Hundeby, USA
4. Greg Streppel, Canada
5. Peggy Büchse, Germany
6. Susie Maroney, OAM, Australia
7. Diego Degano, Argentina
8. David Alleva, PhD, USA
9. Karen Burton, USA
10. Gustavo Oriozabala, Argentina
Others include Igor de Souza, Brazil, David O'Brien, OAM, Australia, Tammy van Wisse, Australia, and Tamara Bruce, Australia
Shelley Taylor-Smith [shown above] was inducted in both the International Swimming Hall of Fame (2009) and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (1989). She was a 7-time world professional marathon swimming champion and won the inaugural FINA World 25 km Championship in 1990. In 1995, she set the record for the 48 km Manhattan Island Marathon Swim and earned an unprecedented overall No.1 ranking on the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation circuit for both men and women in 1991. She finished second overall in the Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog and Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean. She won overall the Atlantic City Around-the-Island Swim in 1991 and 1992. She swam 90 km in Australia in a shark cage to break Des Renford's course record in 1995.
Aleksey Akatyev was an Olympic pool swimmer who was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2009. He won the 5 km and 25 km races at the 1998 FINA World Championships and a 25 km bronze at the 1994 FINA World Championships.
Chad Hundeby was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1996 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2012. He won the 25 km title at the 1991 FINA World Championships. In 1991, 1993 and 1994 he was the overall point leader in the IMSA or FINA World Series pro circuit. In 1994, he set the English Channel record in 7 hours 17 minutes, breaking the record held by Penny Dean in 7 hours 40 minutes that had stood since 1978.
Greg Streppel was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1996. He won the 1991 Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog in Canada and finished third in the 1992 Sylvan Lake World Series Marathon Swim in Canada. He won the 25 km gold medal at the 1994 FINA World Championships. He won 11 FINA World Cup marathon swimming races in Argentina, Mexico, and Italy and the 1994 and 1995 Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe - Coronda in Argentina. Between 1992 and 1995, he won every FINA open water swimming race he entered and won 14 of the last 16 races of his career.
Peggy Büchse was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2003. She won 14 races on the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup professional marathon swimming circuit. She won the 25 km Salvador de Bahia professional marathon swim in Brazil, the 57 km Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe - Coronda in Argentina, and the Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog in Canada. She finished second in the 25 km and third in the 5 km at the 1998 FINA World Championships in Australia.
Susie Maroney OAM was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2005. She crossed the English Channel in 8 hours 29 minutes at the age of 15 and set the record for a female two-way crossing of the English Channel at the age of 16. She won the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in 1990 and 1994. She swam 180 km across from Cuba to Florida in a shark cage in 1997 in 24 hours 31 minutes, swam 197 km from Mexico to Cuba in 38 hours 33 minutes in 1998, and swam 190 km from Jamaica to Cuba in 36 hours in 1999 in a shark cage and a stinger suit.
Diego Degano was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995. He won the 1991 Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada, won the 1992 Sylvan Lake World Series Marathon Swim in Canada, won the 1992 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy, finished second in the 1992 Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean and second in the 1990 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli. He won the 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1993 Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe - Coronda in Argentina.
David Alleva, PhD was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1992. He won the 1995 and 1996 Boston Light Swim, won the 1990 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, and finished second in the 40 Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada.
Karen Burton Reeder was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 1999. She won the 1992 Waikiki Roughwater Swim in Hawaii. She finished third at the 1991 FINA World Championships 25 km race and the 1992 25 km FINA World Cup race in Canada. She was the 1996 and 1997 World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation champion and set the women's record for the Catalina Channel crossing from Santa Catalina Island to the mainland in 1994. She crossed the English Channel solo in 9 hours 4 minutes in 1993 and was on USA Swimming National Team on its record-setting English Channel relay in 1990. She won the 1993 Maratón Internacional Hernandarias – Parana in Argentina.
Gustavo Oriozabala was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001. He finished second on the professional marathon swimming circuit in 1992 and third in 1995. He finished second in the 1986 Maratón Acuática Internacional Ciudad de Rosario in Argentina. He completed a 180 km crossing of Parana River in Argentina in 20 hours 6 minutes, a two-way crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar, a 28.8 km two-way crossing of the Strait of Magellan (Estrecho de Magallanes) in 2001 to become the first person to complete the original Triple Corona Sudamericana, a crossing of the Beagle Channel in 1996, a three-way crossing of the Beagle Channel in 1998, a 20 km crossing of Lake Titicaca in 1998 from Peru to Bolivia at 4,915m altitude.
Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, cautioned, "Most of these swimmers are honorees of the IMSHOF. Once inducted, the IMSHOF does not further 'rank' its inductees."
By Steven Munatones.
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 Editor of the KAATSU Magazine. 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), Dale Petranech Award for Services to the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (2022), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007 and 2010), and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984, awarded to the senior whose interests are not bounded by academic or institutional structures. A joyous, deeply-rooted affirmation of life, disdain for the purely conventional; a love of adventure, and desire to learn by experiencing; the ability to respond creatively to difficult situations). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee (until 2011) and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, a 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff including 4 FINA World Championships, and 2008 NBC Olympic 10K Marathon Swim commentator.
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