This year we opened up our EC Swim Challenge to the public and we really enjoyed having so many people join us. For me personally, I swam more than I have in any other challenge we have hosted over the years and I think that has a lot to do with all of you giving me a push. This was a nice way to back up the work I did a swim camp with Magnolia Masters in January.

Why make a swim challenge?

The swim challenge, and many of the EC challenge/competitions, have come about as a way to make a friendly competition lift our training to a new level. The reality is, if you are going to be successful in this sport, or anything, you will have to be personally motivated to do the work year round. No points, no accolades, just do the work.

However, by placing these challenges periodically, we find that it can breathe new life into what might normally seem somewhat (or very) routine. If, during the two weeks you found yourself in a position of saying “this is probably enough,” but the idea of the challenge, or earning a point, somehow motivated that little extra effort… well, then I would say the challenge has served a positive purpose. Having a community of people willing to do a little more than they might otherwise goes a very long way collectively.

The numbers from this year
Michelle Simmons set a new EC Swim Challenge record (men and women) with 77,727 meters. Most of that was done in laneless 50-meter pool. Respect.

Points Winners
Women: Michelle Simmons (36 of 36 possible)
Men: Danny Walters (34 of 36)

Most Volume
Women: Michelle Simmons 77,727 meters
Men: Justin Daerr 60,454 meters

Fastest 400 TT
Women: Jenny Ferris (4:40)
Men: Justin Daerr (5:00)

Fastest 100 TT
Women: Jenny Ferris (59 seconds)
Men: Justin Daerr (1:01)

Longest Single Swim
Women: Amanda Wendorff 10,100 meters
Men: Andre Amedee 8,190 meters

Check out the full results.

Thanks to everyone for joining us this year. We will be back next year with new ideas to make the challenge bigger and better.

Good luck this season!