Chad Hundeby (1970/1971 – June 12, 2021) was an American long-distance swimmer. As a child, he was a member of the Blue Buoy Swim School based in Southern California. In 1991, he won a gold medal in the men's 25 kilometres

open water swimming Open water swimming is a swimming discipline which takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes, and rivers. Competitive open water swimming is governed by the International Swimming Federation, World Aquatics (formerly kno ...

event at the

1991 World Aquatics Championships The 1991 World Aquatics Championships took place at the Claremont Superdrome in Perth, Western Australia from 3 to 13 January 1991 with 1142 participating athletes. Medal table Medal summary Diving ;Men ;Women Open water swimming ; ...

. In 1994, he set the (then) world record for the fastest swim of the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

in a time of 7 h 17 mins. The previous record had stood since 1978, when Penny Lee Dean completed the swim in 7 h 40 mins. Hundeby has been awarded the Open Water Swimmer of the Year award three times by the USA Open Water Swimming Committee (part of the USA Swimming) – in 1991, 1993 and 1994. He later became a teacher and taught kindergarten in Placentia California at Melrose Elementary. Hundeby died on June 12, 2021, of a heart attack at the age of 50.

References

Year of birth missing 1970s births 2021 deaths American male long-distance swimmers English Channel swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in open water swimming 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-swimming-bio-stub