Kathleen Wilson
Kathleen Wilson is a 58-year-old member of Charleston city council, professional harpist and an American channel swimmer who has done two of the Southern California Eight channels and four of the seven channels of the Oceans Seven.
Contents
Honors
- On 19 October 2001, she was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest civilian honor by Governor Hodges.
- She was one of the early pioneers of the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming and the Grand Slam of Open Water Swimming.
- On 14 May 2018, she was inducted in the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame.
Open Water Swimming Highlights
- She completed a 21 km SwimÖresund between Denmark and Sweden in 7 hours 29 minutes 13 seconds on 2 August 2023.
- On 7 June 1997, she finished 36th in the 18.4 km Swim Around Key West in 5 hours 11 minutes 42 seconds at the age of 33.
- She is the race director for the 12-mile (19.3 km) Swim Around Charleston event.
- On 12 June 1999, she finished 15th in the 45.9 km Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in New York City in 7 hours 37 minutes 20 seconds at the age of 36.
- On 25 August 2001, she completed a crossing of the English Channel from England to France in 13 hours 10 minutes at the age of 38.
- On 22 April 2003, she finished 2nd in the 37 km Tampa Bay Marathon Swim in Florida in 12 hours 26 minutes 30 seconds at the age of 39.
- On 10 August 2004, she completed a crossing of the Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 9 hours 36 minutes 34 seconds at the age of 41 to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming and the Grand Slam of Open Water Swimming.
- On 24 July 2005, she completed the International Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim in Lake Zurich, Switzerland in 8 hours 56 minutes 39 seconds at the age of 42.
- In 2006, she completed the 25 km Swim Across the Sound in Connecticut in 8 hours 51 minutes.
- On 14 August 2007, she completed a 30.6 km crossing of the Santa Barbara Channel from Santa Cruz Island to the California mainland in Ventura County in 11 hours 43 minutes at the age of 44.
- On 26 July 2008, she completed a 14.4 km crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 4 hours 23 minutes at the age of 45.
- In October 2010, she completed the first circumnavigation around Charleston, South Carolina harbor I-526 to I-526 at the age of 47.
- In 2010, she was honored by a Liberty Fellowship for her leadership services as a Councilmember in the City of Charleston; Founder and Creator of SwimCalm; Principal Harpist with Charleston Symphony Orchestra.
- On 9 July 2011, she completed the 16.1 km Kingdom Swim in Lake Memphremagog, Vermont in 5 hours 29 minutes 6 seconds at the age of 48.
- In September 2012, she completed a 42 km crossing of the Molokai Channel from Molokai to Oahu in Hawaii in 20 hours 49 minutes.
- On 21 June 2014, she completed the 57.9 km END-WET marathon swim down the Red River from North Dakota to Minnesota in 9 hours 9 minutes at the age of 51.
- On 6 May 2015, she completed a 13.3 km swim in Saguaro Lake at the SCAR Swim Challenge in Arizona in 3 hours 50 minutes 7 seconds at the age of 51.
- On 7 May 2015, she completed a 14.1 km swim in Canyon Lake at the SCAR Swim Challenge in Arizona in 3 hours 52 minutes 50 seconds at the age of 51.
- On 8 May 2015, she completed a 22.8 km swim in Apache Lake at the SCAR Swim Challenge in Arizona in 8 hours 49 minutes 50 seconds at the age of 51.
- On 9 May 2015, she completed a 10 km swim in Roosevelt Lake at the SCAR Swim Challenge in Arizona in 3 hours 25 minutes 27 seconds at the age of 51.
- She established SwimCalm LLC.
- On 30 May 2022, she completed a double crossing of the length of the Sea of Galilee (S-N-S) in Israel in 16 hours 40 minutes at the age of 58.
South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Video
Inducted in the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame on 14 May 2018
Produced and edited by Daniel Fisher with the permission of the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame
SwimCalm
WIlson is the creator of SwimCalm, an organization dedicated to the high percentage of adults who experience some fear to a profound fear of the water and teaching them about its properties while learning how to feel safe in the water. Its services helps eliminate the fear that in some cases has followed people for a lifetime. SwimCalm classes are vastly different from traditional lessons in that classes are small, students control the pace of the classes, no student is ever pressured into attempting any skill and the entire premise is to have fun while demystifying the water. There are no exams and there is no skill checklist. Because of this, SwimCalm has an extremely high success rate with students who attend the course with a money-back guarantee.
First Swim Around Charleston
Wilson's unprecedented 16.25-mile marathon swim around Charleston started at the James B. Edwards Bridge before daybreak and ended six hours and 58 minutes later at the General William B. Westmoreland Bridge. The 47-year-old politician and harpist says she did the swim to create interest in holding an endurance swim in Charleston with a goal to establish a non-profit dedicated to serving the needs of aquatics within the greater Charleston area.
Swim Around Charleston race
Wilson is the race director for the 12-mile (19.3 km) Swim Around Charleston that takes place in the Charleston waterways and harbor. It is a sanctioned United States Masters Swimming event for on 23 September 2012.
The swim begins at Remleys Point in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, proceeds across the Cooper River to the Charleston side, parallel the peninsular city and proceeds north up the Ashley River to the finish point at I-526. A Charleston county boat landing serves as the finish.
The race start is calculated for participant safety and to allow as many swimmers the best possible chance of finishing. Very fast swimmers may have to swim through the last of the outgoing tide in the Ashley river. There is a time limit of six hours to complete the event. Swimmers unable to finish in the allotted time are removed from the water at the discretion of the race director.
External links
- Price Is Right – And So Was Day One of SCAR, a 4-Day Adventure in Arizona
- SwimÖresund
- Avishag Turek Setting Standards Across The Sea of Galilee
- END-WET 2024 Race Day Announced
- Youth Overcomes Experience - Nicholas Arakelian Wins Swim Around Charleston
- The History of Swimming 4 Long Days In SCAR
- Around And Around They Go In Atlantic City
- 2020 Swim Around Charleston – Solo Results
- Alex Kostich Wins Swim Around Charleston
- Stately, Splendid, Stunning Swim Starts Around Charleston
- Fastest Times Of The Grand Slam Of Open Water Swimming
- Kathleen Wilson Exceeding Boundaries
- Ain't No Sharks In North Dakota, Just A Mighty Red River
- Catalina Channel Swimming Federation
- Channel Swimming Association
- Swim Around Charleston
- NYC Swim bio
- Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming
- Kathleen Wilson Making Music
- Open Water Swimming
- Kathleen Wilson Says Aloha To Molokai And Oahu
- Ka'iwi Channel Swim, Ready For An Epic Undertaking
- Swimming Around The Number One City In The World
- Jim McConica Sets The Standard From Santa Cruz
- Ka’iwi Channel Swim 2.0, Insanely Interesting
- Swim Around Charleston.com
- Swim Calm
- Charleston
- Expanding The Beautiful Swim Around Charleston
- Marathon Swimmer Kathleen Wilson Survives Life's Storms
- Dan Projansky, 56 Going On 36
- Highlights And History Of the Ka'iwi Channel
- END-WET Begins And Ends Today
- END-WET: Epic, Iconic And Surreally Long
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Results And Report Of The 2014 END-WET
- Triple Crowners Showcase Their Fountain Of Youth - Age of Triple Crowners
- What Is The Fairest Channel Of Them All?
- What If...In The Molokai Channel?
- Stately, Splendid, Stunning Swim Around Charleston
- Swim Around Charleston With A Lifetime Of Experience
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Marathon Swimming
- Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- Pretty And Polite, Fair And Friendly
- Kathleen Wilson takes life one stroke at a time
- Marathon Swimmers Federation bio
- The State Of South Carolina's Greatest
- Kathleen Wilson Exceeding Boundaries
- Liberty Fellowship
- Swim Calm
- They Hit Grand Slams In The Open Water
- Grand Slam Of Open Water Swimming Updated List
