Gregg Cross

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Bobby Brewer founded the South Padre Island Open Water Festival in Texas with the help of Gregg Cross that features Olympic gold medalists Rowdy Gaines and Lenny Krayzelburg as announcers and a partnership with the Fran Crippen Elevation Foundation

Gregg Cross is an American coach and open water swimming race director from Florida. Through his leadership and promotional endeavors, open water swimming has grown in popularity in Florida and throughout the country and his event is now a showcase for other open water swimming events.

Honors

Cross was the 2006 and 2014 recipient of the Glen S. Hummer Award, an award given to the individual who makes the greatest contribution to the open water swimming in the United States.

Coaching Career

He is a swimming Coach for Swim Florida. He is a coach with the Gulf Coast Swim Team and a teacher at Bonita Middle School. In 1985, he joined Swim Florida as a coach, and in 1987, moved to Cape Coral to establish a separate entity of Swim Florida; Swim Florida Cape. In nine years with Swim Florida Cape, he helped develop several Senior and Junior National swimmers, as well as numerous high school state champions. In 1996, he became the head age group coach for Swim Florida, and subsequently helped expand the south Lee County age group program at Florida Gulf Coast University. Since 1999 he has served as the race director for the USA Swimming World Open Water Swimming Championship Trials twice.

Race Administration

• Cross has been the driving force in the conduct of Open Water Championships for several years as part of the USA Swimming Open Water Championship Festival in Fort Myers and Miromar Lakes, both in Florida. The Open Water Festival includes national championship events (5 km and 10 km) as well as age group events and “The Mile Dash for Cash” with cash prizes. Participation in the Open Water Festival in Miromar Lakes has grown every year from an estimated 65 swimmers in the first year to currently over 500.
• Cross was the race director for the Crippen Cup 10k Marathon Invitational in Fort Myers, Florida.
• Cross is the Open Water Swimming Zone Representative for the Southern Zone of USA Swimming.
• Cross is a race director for Open Water Planet.

Athletic Career

He is a triathlete and open water swimmer having completed the 12.5-mile Swim Around Key West three times, the 24-mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim, and numerous other open water swims.

External links

• Crossing Florida In The Open Water
• South Padre Island Open Water Festival registration
• Gold Coast Swim Team
• Crippen Cup Competition
• Alex Meyer And Emily Brunemann Complete The Circle
• Fun In The Sun At The Florida Swimming Open Water Championships
• Fran Was My Friend
• Fran Crippen's Legacy Continues On South Padre Island
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• Open Water Swimming
• Marathon Swimming
• Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
• Daily News of Open Water Swimming
• I Got Stung
• The Value Of Safety And Preparedness In The Open Water
• Open Water Swimming
• Marathon Swimming
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• The New Crippen Cup 10k Marathon Invitational