Butterfly - Oldest Person Completing Ultra-Marathon Distance 25K+
Dan Projansky born April 12, 1958 holds the record for being the oldest person known to have completed an official ultra marathon swimming (25K+) event using only the butterfly stroke without a wetsuit and only FINA legal kicking (dolphin only, no whip kicks). It should be noted that while 25K is a commonly used measurement for "ultra marathon" swims, there is no international standard distance for ultra marathon distance as there is for marathon swim distance of 10K, and distances of anything over 10K to English Channel distance have been proposed.
The record was set June 20, 2015 in 15 hours 22 minutes at the 36 mile / 57.94K "Extreme North Dakota Watersports Endurance Test" charity swim in the Red River in the USA. Projansky's age on completion of this event was 57 years, 69 days.
Projansky swam this race annually from 2012-2016 (2012/13 at 27 miles, 2014 and later 36 miles) each time in butterfly, but ran out of time in 2016 and was pulled after 11 hours when it was estimated that he and several others would not reach the endpoint till after 10 PM due to the river having almost no flow that year. Projansky also currently has the record for Butterfly - Oldest Person Completing Marathon Distance 10K+. To reduce chafing during marathon swims, Projansky frequently wears a rash guard shirt which provides no buoyancy.
Distance: 36 miles / 57.94 kilometers
Location: Red River, USA
Country: United States of America
Current Record Holder
Country: United States of America
Year: 2015
Time: 15:22
Additional Contenders
Robin Lajoie born 27 March 1955 has completed several ultra marathon swims all butterfly in practices and informal events. As these have not been confirmed his status is pending. He is the current record holder for Butterfly - Oldest Person Completing Marathon Distance 10K+.
