Katie Blair’s Marathon Swim Story

In this episode I talk to Katie Blair shortly after returning home to Indiana from her 29 hour and 10 minutes in the St Lucia channel, swimming from St Lucia, to Martinique, and back… almost! Her longest stint in the water, she faced jellyfish stings and salt tongue, and initially felt okay with her accomplishment, but two weeks later, she’s wondering if should could have made it.

Adventure addict and author of Lessons from the Water, Katie says the book was a pandemic project and only after the press run is she realizing how much she’s put herself out there.

I felt a little like a kid in a candy store talking to the great Katie Blair whom I first heard of from a Phil White email… the woman who planned to swim across Lake Memphremagog and run back to Newport. THIS was a person I wanted to meet! And today I did.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

I was born and raised in Germany but have lived in the U.S. for about 17 years now. Started swimming in middle school, then fell in love with triathlon but running was a struggle. In 2008, while in grad school at Colorado State, I met some amazing open water swimmers and immediately knew that marathon swimming was right for me. I am a single-mother to my amazing 16 yo son Ashton, currently work in community mental health, and am a doctoral student at Grand Canyon University studying performance psychology.