Marathon Swimming Support Services

Professional crewing support to help you achieve your goal

Ala carte services and full package options available. Read on for more details about what I offer and contact me for rates and availability via the contact form below.

Pre-Swim Crewing support

There’s so much more to crewing than simply mixing feeds and tossing a water bottle overboard. I provide support services throughout the whole marathon swim process, from the initial inquiry about booking a slot and arranging travel plans to getting to the dock and boarding the boat on the day of the swim. Specific pre-swim services I offer include:

• Initial selection of swim and pilot. I can manage working with the pilot on your behalf.

• Booking travel plans. Acting as an impromptu travel agent, I can arrange flights, accommodation, car rentals, and other essentials so you have a smooth, easy, worry-free trip.

• Checklists and resources. I have created several swimming specific packing lists and other resources that will help you understand what you need to bring for a specific adventure. Whether you’re undertaking a polar ice mile or an English Channel crossing, I have developed pre-swim shopping, packing, and local dining and hospitality lists suited to the demands of each adventure.

• Airport transfers. In some instances I may be able to collect you from the airport myself, in other cases, I can arrange transport from the airport to your accommodations.

• Pre-swim grocery shopping support. Needing support at the grocery store before a swim may sound silly, but many swimmers find having a knowledgeable and experienced crew person on hand to help retrieve items, compare options, and manage local currency to be an invaluable service.

• Driving to and parking at the swim site. Especially in foreign locations, arriving to the swim site can be a stressful undertaking. For example, in Dover, UK, not only do you drive on the other side of the road, but you need a UK cell phone number to pay for parking in many of the public lots. But a little local knowledge goes a long way, and I can help you navigate these minor inconveniences that can create outsized stress before the swim of your life.

On-Boat Swim Crewing support

On-boat swim crewing is the heart of the services I provide. These include:

• Sunscreen and grease application

• Feed mixing, timing, and deployment; especially skilled in adapting feeds depending on conditions and swimmer’s needs (i.e. if you’re barfing, I can adapt on the fly to help you keep feeds down and keep going)

• Communication with the pilot and their crew

• Social media posting and family updates

• Pace and safety swimming, including critical swim-finish safety swiimming

• White board motivational messages and joke-cracking on request

• Dinosaur suit dancing optional

• Photo and video recording and commentary. The finish video is a lifetime keepsake — if the pilot green-lights it I will gladly hop in at the end of the swim to safely guide you into land and film the whole experience with my GoPro camera.

• Observation log-keeping and note taking for future reference

• Cheering and communication regarding pace and expected timing

Pilot liasion

Swimmers and their loved ones who don’t have much experience supporting a swim or working with a pilot may feel flustered or uncertain in their communication with these professionals. Having worked with pilots to plan new routes and to support swimmers on many established routes, I’ve developed the communication skills needed to bridge the gap between what the pilot and navigator know and what the swimmer and their crew can understand and apply.

I can also manage communication with the pilot regarding the go/no-go decision and weather considerations so the swimmer doesn’t feel the stress of that decision. You sleep, I’ll do the leg work with the pilot to pick the best start day and time for your swim.

Post-Swim Recovery Support

Landing on the far shore is not the end of the swim. You’ll need assistance during the return to port and in the days following the swim as you recover from your epic adventure. I have supported many swimmers after big events and have helped with many aspects of marathon swimming’s aftermath including:

• Safety swimming at the finish to help guide the swimmer to the safe landing spot

• Video recording of the finish

• Directing and assisting the swimmer back to the main boat and ensuring a safe return to the vessel

• Removing your swim suit and helping you dress in warm, dry clothing

• Managing hypothermia and supporting gentle rewarming

• Packing up swimmer and crew gear and leaving the pilot’s boat as tidy as possible (sorry about the Destin smears! )

• Transportation back to the hotel or apartment

• Grease removal and bathing assistance (yes, you really might need that)

• Meal preparation

• Monitoring swimmer’s health in the hours after the swim and knowing when a trip to the local emergency department may be in order

Goal Setting and Swim Selection Consultation

Want to swim someplace new and need some advice or suggestions of an epic place that might be ripe for an unprecedented marathon swim? I have extensive experience planning new routes and supporting new swims in various waterways around the world and can help you develop an achievable swim goal that considers tides, currents, weather patterns, and other factors.

I also have local connections in a variety of popular swimming locales around the globe and can help you arrange the local support you need to achieve your goal swim.

Qualifications

I’ve been involved with marathon swimming as a swimmer, crew, observer, race director, safety director, pilot and journalist covering the sport for more than 15 years. Specific qualifications include:

• Avid marathon swimmer with successful competitions of the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming and the Triple Crown of Monster Swims. First person to swim the length of Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho.

• President of Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association, tasked with planning and overseeing all solo swim attempts in Massachusetts waterways.

• Have supported more than 30 successful marathon and ice swims as support crew. High success rate with more than a dozen successful channel crossings (English Channel and Catalina Channel)

• “Turn Sherpa” supporting Sarah Thomas’ historic 84-mile, 4-way swim in 2019, which involved general crewing, support swimming, and safety swimming at each turn and finish. Also included media blitzkrieg management during and post-swim

• 90% success rate on English Channel crossings (9 successes out of 10 starts), 100% success rate on Catalina Channel swims (five successes out of five starts)

• Observer on more than 20 marathon, ice, and other open water swims, including Sarah Thomas’ unprecedented 104.6-mile Lake Champlain swim in 2017 and Caroline Block’s 64-mile double Lake George swim in 2020.

• 15 years experience managing and supporting the Boston Light Swim, America’s oldest, still-operational marathon swim race.

• Former ocean lifeguard with four years experience on the Long Beach Township Beach Patrol and numerous medals from various races and competitions.

• Former Masters swimming coach and certified Level 3 USMS Masters Coach.

• Former high school swimming coach.

• Former Division 1 collegiate swimmer.

Swim Support Resume

Crewing and kayaking support:

• Laurie Craigen’s English Channel solo swim, September 6, 2024 (success on a very sloppy day, only success out of three boats that attempted a start, 12:31)

• Polly Madding’s English Channel solo swim, August 29, 2024 (success on very windy day, 14:35)

• Charlotte Brynn’s English Channel solo swim, August 17, 2024 (success on her 6th attempt, 11:43)

• Katrina Gleich’s 10-mile Kingdom Swim, July 27, 2024 (success, 5:56)

• Polly Madding’s Catalina Channel solo swim, August 2023 (success, 11:55)

• Laurie Craigen’s Catalina Channel solo swim, August 2023 (success, 11:12)

• Martha Wood’s Catalina Channel solo swim, August 2023 (success, 12:23)

• Jennifer Dutton’s Roosevelt Lake (10K), support kayaker at SCAR in Arizona, April 2023 (success, 3:44)

• Jennifer Dutton’s Apache Lake (17 miles), support kayaker at SCAR in Arizona, April 2023 (success, 7:04)

• 2023 SCAR safety boat for Saguaro and Canyon Lakes, April 2023

• Kellie Latimer’s 20 Bridges (around Manhattan Island swim, 28.5 miles) October 2022 (success, 8:12)

• Kellie Latimer’s In Search of Memphre swim, 25 miles, September 2022 (success, 15:26)

• Natalie Lang’s solo, one-way English Channel Swim, August 2022 (success, 12:06)

• Charlotte Brynn’s attempted solo, one-way English Channel Swim, August 2022 (unsuccessful, swam for over 11 hours in tough conditions)

• Martha Wood’s solo, one-way English Channel Swim, August 2022 (success, 12:25)

• Laurie Craigen’s 10K Kingdom Swim, support kayaker, July 2022 (unsuccessful, course marking issue and swimmer injury)

• Laurie Craigen’s 10-mile Son of a Swim and 5K Kingdom Swim, support kayaker, June and July 2021 (successful swims)

• Sarah Thomas’ record-setting Four-Way English Channel swim, September 2019 (success, 54:10)

• Andrew Malinak’s attempted 53.3-mile Olympia to Seattle Swim, July 2017 (unsuccessful, swimmer pulled after 18 miles due to cold)

• Gabi Redford’s 10-mile Kingdom Swim, support kayaker, July 2016 (successful wetsuit swim)

• Bill Shipp’s Catalina Channel crossing, September 2015 (success, 11:47)

• Jen Dutton’s 34.3-mile solo ABC crossing of Keuka Lake, NY, August 2015 (success, 22:12)

• Emery Dutton’s 6-mile Kingdom Swim, support kayaker, July 2015 (success)

• Andrew Malinak’s 20-mile Tacoma to Seattle solo swim, June 2015 (success, 8:49)

• Bill Shipp’s English Channel crossing, September 2014 (success, 12:22)

• In Search of Memphre, safety boat, multiple years

• Boston Light Swim, safety boat, 2009 to 2014

• Greg O'Connor’s Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, June 2011 (success, 8:20)

• Greg O'Connor’s Catalina Channel swim, September 2010 (success, 9:26)

• Karen Gaffney’s Boston Light Swim, support swimmer and crew, October 2009 (fundraising swim in tough conditions)

Official observer:

• Laurie Craigen’s 16-mile Boston Light Double, July 24, 2024 (success in very cold water, 6:42)

• Andrew Leone’s 8.4-mile Around Nahant Swim (Lynn boat ramp to Ward Bathhouse, Nahant), July 25, 2023 (success, 4:51)

• Craig Lewin/Mike Klonsky’s 8.4-mile Around Nahant Swim (Lynn boat ramp to Ward Bathhouse, Nahant), September 19, 2022 (success, 4:37)

• Elizabeth Beisel’s 10.4-mile Block Island Swim (Matunuck Beach to North Point Light, Block Island), September 25, 2021 (success, 5:18)

• Caroline Block’s 64-mile double crossing of Lake George, September 16 through 18, 2020 (success, 52:24)

• Sarah Thomas’s 104-mile Lake Champlain world record swim, August 7 through 10, 2017 (success, 67:16)

• Helen Lin’s 16-mile Boston Light Double solo swim, August 7, 2015 (success, 7:56)

• Courtney Paulk’s record-setting 19-mile cross Cape Cod Bay solo swim, September 2, 2014 (success, 9:43)

• MOWSA Ice Miles: Helen Lin, Rena Demeo, Paula Yankauskas, and Kellie Joyce, December 2014 (all successful)
  Marty McMahon, Jonathan Gladstone, and Scott Dalrymple, December 2013. Greg O'Connor, April 2013 (all successful)

• Mo Siegel’s 19-mile cross Cape Cod Bay solo swim, August 17, 2013 (success, 12:32)

Other marathon swimming volunteer work:

• Project Welcome, Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association, 2023 to present

• Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association (MOWSA) Co-Founder. Served as Vice President, December 2011 to August 2021 and President from 2021 to present

• Boston Light Swim Race Director, 2009 to 2022

• Jim Doty Memorial Mile Race Co-Director, 2012 to present

• Marathon Swimmers Federation, Rules of Marathon Swimming Co-Author (January 2014), member of the Core Group of advisors

• Charles River Swim, safety volunteer, 2013 to present

• Selection Committee Member for NYC Swim’s Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, 2010 to 2013

• Swim Across America Events Volunteer, 2008 to 2019

• Two-term Board of Directors member, New England Masters Swim Club, October 2008 to October 2012

• New England Local Masters Swimming Committee, Hall of Fame Task Force Vice-Chair, 2017 to present

Contact me for rates and booking availability!

Please include which swim you want help with or are considering, where you’re located, and a little about your swimming background and I’ll get back to you ASAP to start the conversation about how we can work together to help you achieve your goal.