Skip Storch
From Openwaterpedia
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Storch was nominated in 2008 for an ESPY Award as the "Best Outdoor Athlete" due to his triple circumnavigation of Manhattan Island in record time of 32 hours 52 minutes and his double record of 20 hours 56 minutes during the same swim. Storch has also done the 48K (28.5-mile) Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, a 32K (21-mile) swim in the Hudson River, two 246K (153-mile) stage swim from the Albany Yacht Club to Pier A Battery Park in New York City, and attempted a solo swim from Cuba to Florida.
His first stage swim in 1988 was 53 hours 20 minutes. His second stage swim, a river record, in 2005 took 41 hours and 30 minute. In 1990 he became the first person to swim the complete length of the East River, a 24K (15-mile), through Hell’s Gate.
He is a businessman in New York City who is also a talented photographer and artisan with a specialty in gemology and a deep knowledge of fishing. He is the founder and owner of Shu-Fly Tackle & Fly Shop in New York.
Storch also conceived and completed the Liberty Swim Series, a 400-mile course of uncharted waters into currents and waters without currents days and night where he encountered storms, hail, lighting, northeasters, and sewage bypasses. On the last leg of the Long Island Swim, he was gifted with the honor as the first person to swim the complete length of the East River. The Jersey Shore swim and the Long Island Swim was assisted by wearing a shorty wetsuit, but not during his Hudson River or the Easy River swims. During his swims that drew attention to the health of the New York waterways, Storch was visited by Richie Havens, Pete Seager, Robert Kennedy Jr., Malcolm Forbes, Donald Trump along with countless other politicians governors, senators, protesters, fans, environmental groups, government agencies, dogs and swimmers.
