Ross Youngman

From Openwaterpedia
Ross Youngman, Derwent River Big Swim record-setter

Ross Youngman, born 1961, is a 65-year-old Australian open water swimmer from Sydney who was born and raised in Launceston, Tasmania. He has achieved the Australian Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming, California Triple Crown, Chilean Triple Crown and the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. He is an Honouree in the Class of 2023 of the Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and a Co-Founder of Chile Open Water Swimming and the Chilean Triple Crown. Through his swimming he supports the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and has raised over A$220,000 to date.

Sporting & Swimming Background

  • As a child, he trained with fireman, Vic Chugg's swimming squad at the Launceston Windmill Hill Baths, and was a member of the South Esk Swimming Club.
  • For high school he attended the Launceston Church Grammar School where he captained the swim team in his final year.
  • He worked as a lifeguard at both the Windmill Hill Baths, now the Launceston Aquatic Centre, and the Glenorchy Pool in Hobart, while studying for a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Tasmania.
  • He played Australian Rules football in Tasmania for East Launceston and Sandy Bay Football Clubs and represented Tasmania on a number of occasions.
  • He was a member of the Low Head Surf Lifesaving Club in Tasmania and the Bronte Surf Lifesaving Club in Sydney.
  • He received a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University in 1991 and worked in New York until 2002, before returning to Sydney, where he worked at Ausbil Investment Management, a past sponsor of the annual Palm Beach to Shelley Beach Marathon Swim. He finished a Masters of Science in Coaching Psychology at the University of Sydney in 2023. He is currently CEO of the General Sir John Monash Foundation that offers post-graduate scholarships for Australians to study internationally.
  • He ran the 1990 New York City Marathon in 2 hrs 56 mins and is one of a handful of people to have completed both the 46km 20 Bridges Manhattan Island Swim and the 42km New York City Marathon run.
  • He trains with the Vladswim Squad under Vlad Mravec and Jai Di Tommaso in Sydney and John van Wisse in Melbourne, and is a member of the FullMar-Viña Swimming Club in Chile and the Dolphin Club in San Francisco, USA.

Open Water Swimming Highlights

Triple Crowns

Australia

  • In each of 2014, 2021 and 2023 he completed the 10km South Head Roughwater from Bondi Beach in Australia.
  • He has completed the 10km Vladswim Challenge Swim five times in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025.
  • He completed the 2020 Rottnest Channel Swim in Western Australia.
  • He set a time of 9 hours 10 minutes 25 seconds for the 34 km Derwent River Big Swim in Tasmania, Australia on 13 December 2020. At the time, he set the record for the fastest male, the oldest person, and the earliest of the season to complete the swim. He was the first Tasmanian to complete the swim. The average water temperature was 15.6°C.
  • In 2021, 2022 and 2023 he swam the 10km Sri Chinmoy National Capital Swim in Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra coming first in the male 60-69 years category in 2021 and 2022.
  • On Dec 4 2021 he swam Lake Jindabyne with Katya Noble and Andrew Keay completing 11kms from Kalkite to Jindabyne.
  • On 5 March 2022 he became the first person to swim the 26 km length of Yingina (the Great Lake) in the highlands of Tasmania in 10 hours 22 minutes and 5 seconds accompanied by Marcus and Heidi Archer, Richard Fazackerley, Jock Gibson, Rod Watkins and Andrew Keay.
  • On the 4th February 2023 he completed the inaugural 15 km Swim Cliff to Bridge in Tasmania in a tandem with Dean Summers in the time of 3 hours 42 minutes.
  • On the 27th September 2023 he completed the 20 km Great Keppel Island Swim in Queensland in a tandem with Dean Summers and Christian Renford in the time of 6 hours 36 minutes, piloted by Val Kalmikovs.
  • On the 14th February 2026 he completed the U24 Safety to Sorrento 24km swim on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia in 7 hours 34 minutes.

New Zealand

  • In March 2026 he went to Picton to swim Cook Strait with Grant Orchard from Katabatic Charters but failed to get a weather window and returned to Australia after a week with a view to making another attempt in April 2027.
  • On Friday 24th April 2026, at age 64, he attempted the 40km length swim of Lake Taupo supported by Philip Rush. The swim started at 4am and finished at 10pm after 18 hours of swimming, approximately 2 kilometres short of the finish point. He had covered 200 metres in the last 30 minutes and his legs and hips had seized up with cramp and faitgue. After 18 hours in 17 degree water, going into a second night, he was borderline hypothermic. This was his first Did Not Finish (DNF) and by elapsed time (18 hrs) his longest ever swim by 3 hours, as compared to his "circa" 15 hour English Channel swim.

United Kingdom

  • In August 2013 he was a member of Team MadFish, with Jeannie Baxter-Reid and Tom O'Byrne, that swam across the 33.5 km English Channel in 11 hours 15 minutes, raising over A$60,000 for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.
  • On 29 July 2022 he completed a 33.5 km crossing of the English Channel from England to France in 14 hours 56 minutes and raised over A$165,000 for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. This crossing was his 2nd swim of the Oceans Seven.

Europe

Ireland

  • On 30 June 2025 he swam 20.5 km from Fastnet Lighthouse to Baltimore Harbour, County Cork, Ireland in 6 hrs 31 mins.
  • The following day on the 1st July 2015 he swam 10.5km across Galway Bay, Ireland in 3 hrs 20 mins.

United States

South America

  • On the 17th February 2024 he completed the 22km Jimmy Rasmussen "Pucón to Villarrica" open water event along the length of Lago Villarrica in 6hrs 56mins 27secs. The event formed part of the 2024 GranPrix Austral Series of swimming races.
  • On the 24th February 2024 he completed a 15 km ocean swim from Playa Boca in Concón to Playa Caleta Abarca in Viña del Mar, Chile with Chilean Francisco Aguirre in 5hrs 53mins 15secs in support of the Bush Fire Victims of Valparaiso. The swim was supported by Chilean marathon swimmer Julieta Nuñez who also organises marathon swims in South America including the Straits of Magellan, Beagle Channel and Lake Titicaca.

Piloting/Swim Observer

External links

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