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Each year, the Flowers Sea Swim is honored to welcome Olympic and world-record-holding athletes, in addition to other notable guests in the world of swimming.
2011 CONFIRMED ATTENDEES
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Eva Fabian – Defending Women's Champion
USA
Eva calls Keene, NH home, where she trains with the Greenwood Memorial Swim Club.
Eva first made her mark in open water at age 13 when she qualified for the US National Team by placing in the top 6 at World Championship Trials in 2007. She has been a member of the US National Team each year since.
During her short career she has amassed an impressive number of open water rankings. Her winning races include the 2009 USA Swimming Open Water Grand Prix 5K in Seattle, Washington and the 2008 5K US Nationals, in Fort Myers, Florida.
Most recently, in 2009, she competed for the US at the World Championships in Rome (where she is shown with one of the event lifeguards), and placed 2nd in the highly competitive RCP Tiburon Mile in California.
At only 16 years of age, Eva has notched numerous US National and international achievements and is considered a rising star in open water competition. She ranked 10th in 2009 in the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup, a series of 14 races held around the world, capping her year with a 2nd place finish in the New York event in the Hudson River.
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Gary Hall Jr.
USA
Gary Wayne Hall, Jr. (born September 26, 1974 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American swimmer who competed in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics and won ten Olympic medals (5 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze).Hall is well known for his "pro-wrestling like" antics before a competition; frequently strutting onto the pool deck in boxing shorts and robe, shadow boxing and flexing for the audience. He currently serves as the Director of Business Development for b2d Marketing, and resides in Seattle, Washington.
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Kaitlin Sadeno
USA
Kaitlin is a World class professional athlete and four-time Olympic medal winner as a member of two US Olympic teams in 2000 and 2004. She is a former American and World record holder and competed in nearly every swim event throughout her career - although she is known best for IM's, freestyle, and butterfly. She swam and graduated from USC with a social science and history degree. She trained in Ann Arbor Michigan with post-graduate team Club Wolverine earning 10 National titles, 2 NCAA titles, 12-time All American and 17 USC school records.
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Steven Munatones
USA
Open Water Swimming Commentator and Coach
Steven Munatones is a multi-decorated open water swimming coach, journalist, race director, teacher and athlete. Among his copious achievements are his induction into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, where he also serves on the Board of Directors, and selection to the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee. He has also received the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids/Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award.
Steven served as US team Coach at the 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 World Swimming Championships and the head coach at the 2004 World Open Water Swim Championships. He has also advised several channel swimmers (English, Catalina, Molokai, Maui, Tsugaru) and USA Swimming national championship swimmers. Additionally, he helped organize the Global Open Water Swimming Conference and Open Water Swimming Safety Conference, served as Race Director for the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships and Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 10K, and has conducted numerous open water swimming clinics.
As a writer and commentator, his prodigious output includes the book Swimming Without Lines, innumerable articles covering all areas of the sport for the likes of NBC, NBC Olympics.com, USA Swimming, Swimming World Magazine (since 1985), Triathlon Magazine (Japanese edition), Competitor Magazine, Swimming Australia Magazine, SWIM Magazine, SWIMMER Magazine (since 1984), The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, National Geographic Magazine, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee and National Public Radio. He also served as an Olympic 10K Marathon Swim commentator for NBC Olympics.
Steven created www.openwatersource.com where he hosts Open Water Wednesday, www.imshof.org, www.SwiMetrics.com and www.dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com. In line with his innovative involvement in all things open water, he also created the Open Water Swimming Dictionary, World's Top 100 Open Water Swims ranking, Half Century Club, Ocean's Seven, and the World Open Water Swimming Man / Woman / Performance of the Year Awards, as well as rules for Special Olympics open water swimming and Stage Swimming. He currently serves on the Board of WOWSA (World Open Water Swimming Association).
Before launching his consulting career, Steven won the 1982 World Marathon Swimming Championship (25K), was a two-time USA Swimming national marathon swimming champion, and completed five unprecedented solo swims in Japan ranging in distance from 32K to 58K.
In recognition of his contributions to open water swimming, Steven has received numerous awards, including the 2001, 2005 and 2007 USA Swimming Award for open water swimming.
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AUS
Chris Palfrey is a successful long distance swimmer who often trains and competes with wife Penny. Chris has completed the following marathon swims, among others.
· Manhattan Island Marathon Swim
· Catalina Island to LA (San Pedro Channel)
· Tampa Bay Marathon Swim
· Strait of Gibraltar along with Penny,
· First male to swim between Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands, off the California coast.
· First non-American to swim the Kaiwi channel from Moloka'i to Oahu - Fastest time for this crossing
· Rottnest Channel Swim
· Part of a relay team which in 2009, set a new world record for the longest ever lake relay swim.
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AUS
Penny is an accomplished marathon open water swimmer and inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
An alumna and winner of some of the world's great open water swims – The Tampa Bay Swim, the Catalina Channel, The Manhattan Island Marathon Swim and numerous Hawaiian channels – Penny will also be attempting the first ever crossing between Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac the week before the Flowers Sea Swim.
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Gary Hall Sr.
USA
Since retiring in 2006 as a physician and moving with his wife Mary, to Islamorada in the Florida Keys, Dr. Gary Hall has now dedicated his life to coaching technique and training methods to children, masters, fitness and health swimmers, triathletes and others at The Race Club Camps. He brings his science background, knowledge and experience in stroke mechanics and a strong passion for swimming to offer an unsurpassed quality of teaching at The Race Club. Swimmers of all ages and abilities come from around the world to learn from and be inspired by Gary Hall Sr. and give themselves the lifetime gift of swimming.
"Hall is probably the best collegiate swimmer in the world and he has done everything in his career … Gary is just as valuable as Mark Spitz ever was … . But even more than that, he has given us academic acceptability. Gary's accomplishments have helped tremendously in making people realize Indiana University is such a good academic school." – "Doc" James Counsilman testimony to Gary Hall, Sr. at their final NCAA Championships.
Halls' record is one of amazing successes. Gary has held 10 world records. In both 1969 and 1970 he was named World Swimmer of the Year. In the 1970 NCAA Championship, he alone scored a record 56 and half points. He was a leader as Captain of the Indiana University team that in his senior year won it's 6th straight NCAA Championship.
Gary was also elected by all of the United States Olympic athletes to carry the American Flag leading the Olympic Team into the Opening Ceremonies at the 1976 Montreal, Canada Games, the only USA swimmer ever selected for that honor.
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Kristy Kowal
USA
Kristina ("Kristy") Ann Kowal (born on October 9, 1978 in Reading, Pennsylvania) won the silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She is also a 2 time World Champion (1998) in the 100 Meter breaststroke and on the 400 medley relay.
Kowal helped her college, the University of Georgia (UGA), to three NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. In 2000, she was named NCAA Woman of the Year and she was recipient of the Today's Top VIII Award as a member of the Class of 2001, which honors eight senior student-athletes each year. She graduated from UGA in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.Ed). She was a 1996 graduate of Wilson High School, located in West Lawn, PA. Wilson has produced three other notable athletes Kerry Collins (NFL) and John Gilmore (NFL), both of whom played in the Super Bowl, and Chad Henne (NFL), a quarterback chosen by the Miami Dolphins in the 2nd round of the 2008 NFL draft.
Kowal became a member of the United States Swimming Team in 1995. She is now an elementary teacher at her alma-mater, Wilson school district, in West Lawn, Pennsylvania.
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Chip Peterson
USA
At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, Peterson won gold in the 10 km event and a silver medal position behind Germany's Thomas Lurz in the 5 km event. Peterson was jointly awarded the inaugural Open Water Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine with Lurz. Peterson also earned a gold medal in the 1500 meter freestyle at the 2005 Summer Nationals in Irvine, California. Peterson won gold in the men's 1500 meter freestyle as well as a silver in the men's 10K open water swim at the 2007 Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the 2010 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships Peterson won the 1650yd freestyle in a time of 14:49.36, fourth in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:20.23. At the 2010 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Peterson competed in the 1650, 500, and 200 yard freestyles placing 13th in the 1650 free and 14th in the 500 free.
Chip was last years' winner of the highly competitive Tiburon Mile in San Francisco, CA!
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Maritza Correia
USA
• Three-Time World Champion • 11-Time NCAA Champion • 27- Time NCAA All American • Olympic silver medal in 2004 in 400m FR • First African American female swimmer to make US Olympic team and win a medal • First African American to break a world record in swimming • First African American female to hold American Records • Former American record holder in 50y freestyle and 100y freestyle • Two-Time Pan American Game Gold Medalist • Three medals at World Championships • Four gold medals at 2005 World University Games
Maritza was featured in "Parting the Water" with Cullen Jones, a movie about challenges Latino and Black swimmers face. She works with Nike to help get inner-city kids into the pool and learning to swim, spreading her passion for the sport.
Background in swimming: I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was seven years old, and my doctor recomended to either get into swimming or gymnastics, and my parents decided to go ahead and try me out in a learn to swim program in Puerto Rico, where I was born. By the end of the summer I ended up liking swimming a lot more than I ever expected. What started out as a therapeutic remedy ended up being something I loved doing and was really good at. Through all the bumps in the road throughout my career, I stuck with it and never gave up. Eventually all the hard work paid off and I made the US Olympic Team in 2004 and came home with a silver medal.
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Ian Crocker
USA
5 time Olympic Medalist: 3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze over a span of 3 Olympic Games. Former world record holder in 7 events including the 100m butterfly from 2003 to 2009. Competed for the University of Texas, 2000 -2004, 22 time NCAA all-american.
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Emily Brunemann
USA
USA national open water swimming member and NCAA champion 1650 freestyle.
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Each year, the Flowers Sea Swim is honored to welcome Olympic and world-record-holding athletes, in addition to other notable guests in the world of swimming.
2011 CONFIRMED ATTENDEES
| |
|
| |
|
|
Eva Fabian – Defending Women's Champion
USA
Eva calls Keene, NH home, where she trains with the Greenwood Memorial Swim Club.
Eva first made her mark in open water at age 13 when she qualified for the US National Team by placing in the top 6 at World Championship Trials in 2007. She has been a member of the US National Team each year since.
During her short career she has amassed an impressive number of open water rankings. Her winning races include the 2009 USA Swimming Open Water Grand Prix 5K in Seattle, Washington and the 2008 5K US Nationals, in Fort Myers, Florida.
Most recently, in 2009, she competed for the US at the World Championships in Rome (where she is shown with one of the event lifeguards), and placed 2nd in the highly competitive RCP Tiburon Mile in California.
At only 16 years of age, Eva has notched numerous US National and international achievements and is considered a rising star in open water competition. She ranked 10th in 2009 in the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup, a series of 14 races held around the world, capping her year with a 2nd place finish in the New York event in the Hudson River.
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Gary Hall Jr.
USA
Gary Wayne Hall, Jr. (born September 26, 1974 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American swimmer who competed in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics and won ten Olympic medals (5 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze).Hall is well known for his "pro-wrestling like" antics before a competition; frequently strutting onto the pool deck in boxing shorts and robe, shadow boxing and flexing for the audience. He currently serves as the Director of Business Development for b2d Marketing, and resides in Seattle, Washington.
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Kaitlin Sadeno
USA
Kaitlin is a World class professional athlete and four-time Olympic medal winner as a member of two US Olympic teams in 2000 and 2004. She is a former American and World record holder and competed in nearly every swim event throughout her career - although she is known best for IM's, freestyle, and butterfly. She swam and graduated from USC with a social science and history degree. She trained in Ann Arbor Michigan with post-graduate team Club Wolverine earning 10 National titles, 2 NCAA titles, 12-time All American and 17 USC school records.
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Steven Munatones
USA
Open Water Swimming Commentator and Coach
Steven Munatones is a multi-decorated open water swimming coach, journalist, race director, teacher and athlete. Among his copious achievements are his induction into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, where he also serves on the Board of Directors, and selection to the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee. He has also received the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids/Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award.
Steven served as US team Coach at the 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 World Swimming Championships and the head coach at the 2004 World Open Water Swim Championships. He has also advised several channel swimmers (English, Catalina, Molokai, Maui, Tsugaru) and USA Swimming national championship swimmers. Additionally, he helped organize the Global Open Water Swimming Conference and Open Water Swimming Safety Conference, served as Race Director for the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships and Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 10K, and has conducted numerous open water swimming clinics.
As a writer and commentator, his prodigious output includes the book Swimming Without Lines, innumerable articles covering all areas of the sport for the likes of NBC, NBC Olympics.com, USA Swimming, Swimming World Magazine (since 1985), Triathlon Magazine (Japanese edition), Competitor Magazine, Swimming Australia Magazine, SWIM Magazine, SWIMMER Magazine (since 1984), The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, National Geographic Magazine, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee and National Public Radio. He also served as an Olympic 10K Marathon Swim commentator for NBC Olympics.
Steven created www.openwatersource.com where he hosts Open Water Wednesday, www.imshof.org, www.SwiMetrics.com and www.dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com. In line with his innovative involvement in all things open water, he also created the Open Water Swimming Dictionary, World's Top 100 Open Water Swims ranking, Half Century Club, Ocean's Seven, and the World Open Water Swimming Man / Woman / Performance of the Year Awards, as well as rules for Special Olympics open water swimming and Stage Swimming. He currently serves on the Board of WOWSA (World Open Water Swimming Association).
Before launching his consulting career, Steven won the 1982 World Marathon Swimming Championship (25K), was a two-time USA Swimming national marathon swimming champion, and completed five unprecedented solo swims in Japan ranging in distance from 32K to 58K.
In recognition of his contributions to open water swimming, Steven has received numerous awards, including the 2001, 2005 and 2007 USA Swimming Award for open water swimming.
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AUS
Chris Palfrey is a successful long distance swimmer who often trains and competes with wife Penny. Chris has completed the following marathon swims, among others.
· Manhattan Island Marathon Swim
· Catalina Island to LA (San Pedro Channel)
· Tampa Bay Marathon Swim
· Strait of Gibraltar along with Penny,
· First male to swim between Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands, off the California coast.
· First non-American to swim the Kaiwi channel from Moloka'i to Oahu - Fastest time for this crossing
· Rottnest Channel Swim
· Part of a relay team which in 2009, set a new world record for the longest ever lake relay swim.
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|
|
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|
AUS
Penny is an accomplished marathon open water swimmer and inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
An alumna and winner of some of the world's great open water swims – The Tampa Bay Swim, the Catalina Channel, The Manhattan Island Marathon Swim and numerous Hawaiian channels – Penny will also be attempting the first ever crossing between Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac the week before the Flowers Sea Swim.
|
|
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|
Gary Hall Sr.
USA
Since retiring in 2006 as a physician and moving with his wife Mary, to Islamorada in the Florida Keys, Dr. Gary Hall has now dedicated his life to coaching technique and training methods to children, masters, fitness and health swimmers, triathletes and others at The Race Club Camps. He brings his science background, knowledge and experience in stroke mechanics and a strong passion for swimming to offer an unsurpassed quality of teaching at The Race Club. Swimmers of all ages and abilities come from around the world to learn from and be inspired by Gary Hall Sr. and give themselves the lifetime gift of swimming.
"Hall is probably the best collegiate swimmer in the world and he has done everything in his career … Gary is just as valuable as Mark Spitz ever was … . But even more than that, he has given us academic acceptability. Gary's accomplishments have helped tremendously in making people realize Indiana University is such a good academic school." – "Doc" James Counsilman testimony to Gary Hall, Sr. at their final NCAA Championships.
Halls' record is one of amazing successes. Gary has held 10 world records. In both 1969 and 1970 he was named World Swimmer of the Year. In the 1970 NCAA Championship, he alone scored a record 56 and half points. He was a leader as Captain of the Indiana University team that in his senior year won it's 6th straight NCAA Championship.
Gary was also elected by all of the United States Olympic athletes to carry the American Flag leading the Olympic Team into the Opening Ceremonies at the 1976 Montreal, Canada Games, the only USA swimmer ever selected for that honor.
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Kristy Kowal
USA
Kristina ("Kristy") Ann Kowal (born on October 9, 1978 in Reading, Pennsylvania) won the silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She is also a 2 time World Champion (1998) in the 100 Meter breaststroke and on the 400 medley relay.
Kowal helped her college, the University of Georgia (UGA), to three NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. In 2000, she was named NCAA Woman of the Year and she was recipient of the Today's Top VIII Award as a member of the Class of 2001, which honors eight senior student-athletes each year. She graduated from UGA in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.Ed). She was a 1996 graduate of Wilson High School, located in West Lawn, PA. Wilson has produced three other notable athletes Kerry Collins (NFL) and John Gilmore (NFL), both of whom played in the Super Bowl, and Chad Henne (NFL), a quarterback chosen by the Miami Dolphins in the 2nd round of the 2008 NFL draft.
Kowal became a member of the United States Swimming Team in 1995. She is now an elementary teacher at her alma-mater, Wilson school district, in West Lawn, Pennsylvania.
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Chip Peterson
USA
At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, Peterson won gold in the 10 km event and a silver medal position behind Germany's Thomas Lurz in the 5 km event. Peterson was jointly awarded the inaugural Open Water Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine with Lurz. Peterson also earned a gold medal in the 1500 meter freestyle at the 2005 Summer Nationals in Irvine, California. Peterson won gold in the men's 1500 meter freestyle as well as a silver in the men's 10K open water swim at the 2007 Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the 2010 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships Peterson won the 1650yd freestyle in a time of 14:49.36, fourth in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:20.23. At the 2010 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Peterson competed in the 1650, 500, and 200 yard freestyles placing 13th in the 1650 free and 14th in the 500 free.
Chip was last years' winner of the highly competitive Tiburon Mile in San Francisco, CA!
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Maritza Correia
USA
• Three-Time World Champion • 11-Time NCAA Champion • 27- Time NCAA All American • Olympic silver medal in 2004 in 400m FR • First African American female swimmer to make US Olympic team and win a medal • First African American to break a world record in swimming • First African American female to hold American Records • Former American record holder in 50y freestyle and 100y freestyle • Two-Time Pan American Game Gold Medalist • Three medals at World Championships • Four gold medals at 2005 World University Games
Maritza was featured in "Parting the Water" with Cullen Jones, a movie about challenges Latino and Black swimmers face. She works with Nike to help get inner-city kids into the pool and learning to swim, spreading her passion for the sport.
Background in swimming: I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was seven years old, and my doctor recomended to either get into swimming or gymnastics, and my parents decided to go ahead and try me out in a learn to swim program in Puerto Rico, where I was born. By the end of the summer I ended up liking swimming a lot more than I ever expected. What started out as a therapeutic remedy ended up being something I loved doing and was really good at. Through all the bumps in the road throughout my career, I stuck with it and never gave up. Eventually all the hard work paid off and I made the US Olympic Team in 2004 and came home with a silver medal.
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Ian Crocker
USA
5 time Olympic Medalist: 3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze over a span of 3 Olympic Games. Former world record holder in 7 events including the 100m butterfly from 2003 to 2009. Competed for the University of Texas, 2000 -2004, 22 time NCAA all-american.
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Emily Brunemann
USA
USA national open water swimming member and NCAA champion 1650 freestyle.
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