Ben Huggard
Ben Huggard (2 September 1939 - 11 April 2008) was an American marathon swimmer. Benson was a retired Nassau County, New York, police officer, avid golfer and member of the Greenbrier Country Club and was a notable and distinguished marathon swimmer. His nickname was Gentle Ben.
Open Water Swimming Career
- Huggard attempted to swim a 165-mile ocean swim in the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to the Bahamas in 1975 in what he promoted as the Swim of the Century. He lasted nearly 30 hours and was pulled from the water short of his goal.
- Huggard was the 49th person to swim the English Channel from England to France in 1971 in 15 hours 14 minutes.
- Huggard was very active in the Manhattan Island Marathon Swims and participated in the first race arranged by Drury Gallagher.
- Huggard attempted a double circumnavigation swim around Manhattan Island in New York City in 1984 with his legs tied as a charity swim
1979 double attempt - George Kauffmann of the USA
1980 double attempt - Tom Hetzel of the USA
1983 double success - Julie Ridge of the USA in over 21 hours
1984 double attempt - Ben Huggard of the USA [with his feet tied in a charity swim
1984 triple success - Stacy Chanin of the USA in 33 hours 30 minutes
2007 double success - Marcos Diaz of the Dominican Republic (wetsuit) in 22 hours 14 minutes
2007 double/triple success - Skip Storch of the USA in 20 hours 56 minutes (double) and 32 hours 52 minutes (triple)
2016 double success - Pieter Christian Jongeneel Anderica of Spain in 20 hours 15 minutes
External links
- Round And Round And Round Manhattan Island
- The Drift of the Century
- The Courage And Grit Of Christian Jongeneel
- Open Water Swimming
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Shark Caged In The Ocean
- Swimmer Fit To Be Tied
- Christian Jongeneel Double Manhattan Circumnavigation
- The Courage And Grit Of Christian Jongeneel
