Sarah Thomas is an American marathon swimmer. On August 10, 2017 she swam in Lake Champlain, the first current-neutral open water swim of over 100 miles, and as of 2019 the world record for longest unassisted open-water swim. Her route was a loop starting and finishing at Rouses Point, New York at the north of the lake and swimming south to and around Gardiner Island, Addison County, Vermont. In November 2017 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, swimming as much as possible during her treatment. On September 17, 2019 she became the first swimmer to swim four consecutive crossings of the English Channel, in a time of 54 hours 10 minutes. A documentary film about this swim, The Other Side, is being made, funded through Kickstarter.
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, but gave it up while gaining her Masters in legal administration at the University of Denver. 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, near Fort Collins, Colorado, over above sea level. She was the second woman to complete the swim, and the fifth overall, in 2 hrs 39 mins 8 sec. 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 with her husband.
Notable accomplishments
Thomas accomplished unprecedented two-way crossings of Lake Tahoe in California in 2013 and across Lake Memphremagog in Vermont when she completed a two-way crossing without a wetsuit in each lake.
Thomas is the 58th person to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming:
*She completed a crossing of the Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland on 27 July 2010 in 9 hours 6 minutes 28 minutes at the age of 28.
*She completed the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim on 18 June 2011 in 7 hours 36 minutes 20 seconds at the age of 29.
*She completed a crossing of the English Channel from England to France in 11 hours 23 minutes on 13 August 2012 at the age of 30.
On 19 July 2013, she became the first person to complete a 68.4 km two-way crossing of Lake Tahoe from Incline Village to Camp Richardson to Incline Village in 22 hours 30 minutes at the age of 31.
On 7 September 2013, she became the first person to complete a two-way crossing of Lake Memphremagog at the age of 31.
On 4–6 October 2016, she completed an 80-mile crossing of Lake Powell along the Utah-Arizona border from Bullfrog to Wahweap in 56 hours 5 minutes 26 seconds at the age of 34.
On 22 August 2015, she completed a 36.2 km crossing of Loch Ness 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 in Montana in 13 hours 39 minutes at the age of 33.
She is the protagonist of the documentary film The Other Side.
On September 17, 2019 she became the first swimmer to make a quadruple back to back crossing of the English Channel, in a time of 54 hours 10 minutes.
Honors and awards
Thomas received the 2013 Barra Award, an award given by the Marathon Swimmers Forum for most impressive overall year of marathon swimming. The Barra Award considers not just swimming achievements, but also the person's full body of work in the sport of marathon swimming. It is named after New York channel swimmer David Barra.
Thomas was nominated for the 2016 WOWSA Awards, a recognition of outstanding men, women, performances and offerings around the globe sponsored by the World Open Water Swimming Association. Her solo swim across Lake Powell was voted the 2016 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year.
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.
