Sarah Thomas (born 1982) is an American

marathon swimmer Marathon swimming is a class of open water swimming defined by long distances, with being the unofficially held minimum distance. Routes are typically geographically based or buoy based. Geographical routes include crossings of channels and ...

. She is the first person to complete four consecutive crossings 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 ...

and the first person to swim a current-neutral swim over 100 miles. She holds the world record for longest, second-, and third-longest current-neutral swims, and various other records in both fresh and salt water categories.

Personal life and early swimming

Thomas was swimming in a year-round swimming team by the age of ten. She swam in high school at the 200m and 500m freestyle, and in the mile in her senior year. She continued swimming while studying for a degree in political science and journalism at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, but gave it up while gaining her masters in legal administration at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

. She took up swimming again and joined a Masters swim team after graduating. In August 2007 Thomas made her first long swim, the annual 10 km Horsetooth Open Water Swim at

Horsetooth Reservoir Horsetooth Reservoir (often known locally as Horsetooth) is a large reservoir in southern Larimer County, Colorado, in the foothills just west of the city of Fort Collins, Colorado. The reservoir runs north-south for approximately 6.5 miles (10 ...

, near

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The population was 169,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an i ...

, over above sea level. She finished second in the women's and the fifth overall, in 2 hrs 39 mins 8 sec. Speaking over her first open water race experience, she has said, "I got out of the water, and I was fighting back tears because I loved it so much." She works as a recruiter for a health care company, and lives in

Conifer, Colorado Conifer is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Conifer is located along U.S. Route 285 in the foothills west of Denver. History A post office called Conifer was established in 1894. Some say the communit ...

with her husband.

Lake Powell

After being introduced to the sport of open water swimming through the Horsetooth Open Water Swim, Thomas went on to become the 59th person to complete the

Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming The Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming is a marathon swimming challenge consisting of three historically important swims: #The English Channel, between France and England #The Catalina Channel, between Catalina Island and the California mai ...

in 2012 among other noteworthy swims such as Loch Ness. On July 19, 2013, Thomas became the first person to complete a 68.4 km two-way crossing of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

, completing the double-crossing in 22 hours 30 minutes. Less than two months later, on 7 September 2013, she became the first person to complete a two-way crossing of

Lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; , ) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport (city), Vermont, Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed th ...

(in the 80.4 km In Search of Memphre race). She completed the swim in 30 hours 1 minute These back-to-back back-to-backs earned her the 2013 Barra Award for Most Impressive Body of Work in Marathon Swimming. She was also nominated for the World Open Water Swimming (WOWSA) Woman of the Year for the "unprecedented" nature of both swims that each "elevated her to the elusive 24-Hour Club status". In 2017, Thomas broke the world record for longest current-neutral swim with her crossing of Lake Powell. The Lake Powell swim was an 80-mile (128.7 km) crossing of

Lake Powell Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It holds of water when full, second in the United States to only the ...

along the Utah-Arizona border from Bullfrog to Wahweap beginning on October 4, 2016 and ending on October 6, 2016 (56 hours 5 minutes 26 seconds). Her solo swim across

was voted the 2016 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year for " tretchingher imagination and that of the entire global open water swimming community".

Lake Champlain

One year after breaking the world record for longest current-neutral swim for Lake Powell, Thomas broke the world record once more in 2017, this time by over in

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

. Her swim was the first current-neutral open water swim of over 100 miles, and the world record for longest unassisted open-water swim. Her swim began on August 7, 2017 at

Rouses Point, New York Rouses Point is a village (New York), village in Clinton County, New York, Clinton County, New York (state), New York, United States, along the 45th parallel north, 45th parallel. The population was 2,209 at the 2010 census. The village is named ...

at the north of the lake and took a loop to and around Gardiner Island,

Addison County, Vermont Addison County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 37,363. Its shire town (county seat) is the town of Middlebury (town), Vermont, Middle ...

before ending at

on August 10, 2017. The swim took a total of 67 hours and 16 minutes. For this feat she garnered another nomination by WOWSA for Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year and was described as "simply mind-boggling and typical of Thomas’ tenacity".

English Channel four way

Two months after her historic swim in Lake Champlain, in November 2017, Thomas was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

, and underwent surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, swimming as much as possible during her treatment. On September 17, 2019, one year after completing treatment, she became the first person to swim four consecutive crossings of the

. The swim took her 54 hours 10 minutes to complete. The swim is also considered the second-longest current-neutral swim in history, after Thomas' swim of Lake Champlain. A documentary film about this swim, ''The Other Side'', was made, funded through

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

Other notable swims

*On 22 August 2015, she completed a 36.2 km crossing of

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

in Scotland in 10 hours 52 minutes at the age of 33. *On 21 November 2015, she completed an Ice Mile in Wellington Lake, Bailey, Colorado, U.S.A. by swimming 1.1 miles in 4.57 °C water at 8,000 feet altitude in 27:07 observed by Craig Lenning and Cliff Crozier. *On 3 July 2015, she completed a 44.3 km crossing of

Flathead Lake Flathead Lake (, ) is a large natural lake in northwest Montana, United States. The lake is a remnant of the ancient, massive glacial dammed lake, Glacial Lake Missoula, Lake Missoula, of the era of the last interglacial. Flathead Lake is a nat ...

in Montana in 13 hours 39 minutes at the age of 33. *On 20 June 2015, she won the 58 km END-WET down the

Red River of the North The Red River (), also called the Red River of the North () to differentiate it from the Red River of the South, Red River in the south of the continent, is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confl ...

in North Dakota in 9 hours 43 minutes at the age of 33. *On 2 June 2017, she completed a 40 km double circumnavigation of Mercer Island, Washington in 12 hours 22 minutes 20 seconds at the age of 35. *In March 2019, she completed a crossing of the

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...

between the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

and

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand. *On 10 July 2022, she became the first person to complete the 69-km double crossing of the North Channel between Britain and Ireland, in 21 hours 46 minutes 38 seconds.

Additional honors and awards

*Thomas won the 2017 Solo Swim of the Year by the Marathon Swimmers Federation. *She was named one of the World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women in 2017, 2018, and 2019 by the World Open Water Swimming Association. *Thomas was selected as the Colorado Sportswomen of the Year. *Inducted as an Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2018. *Inducted in the Vermont Open Water Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2017.

Selected publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Sarah 1982 births Living people American female long-distance swimmers University of Connecticut alumni University of Denver alumni People from Conifer, Colorado Sportspeople from Jefferson County, Colorado Cook Strait swimmers English Channel swimmers Manhattan Island swimmers