Ryan Leong’s Marathon Swim Story

When Ryan Leong woke up intubated in the ICU following open heart surgery he made a promise to challenge himself both physically and mentally every single day after that so that he could stay as far as away from that hospital bed as possible.

Now Ryan calls himself a “recovering triathlete” and blames his “poor friend choices” and this internal drive for taking across several of the channels in Hawaii.  – where there is plenty of warm, clear water to be swum. Be sure to check out the pictures below of Calvin, the Silky Shark, who accompanied them for nearly 8 hours on one of their recent attempts.

I hope you enjoy Ryan’s story.

In his own words:

Ryan Leong is a Hawaii based open water swimmer, recovering triathlete, and general endurance junkie, whose lack of tolerance to cold water is legendary. A self-proclaimed ‘country club marathon swimmer’, Ryan focuses on warm water channels close to home, point-to-point costal swims, and avoiding swims that have the potential to involve cookie cutter sharks. Tigers are ok.

In 2017, against better judgement, Ryan accompanied his main swimming partner, Stefan Reinke, on a tandem solo crossing of the Ka’iwi Channel, simply to prevent Stefan from swimming more than him. This unhealthy relationship has led to multiple other channels and marathon distance swims, including the Kaulakahi channel (Kauai to Ni’ihau) in 2020. During Kaulakahi, they were joined by The Godfather – Bill Goding, Lectie Altman, Marcus Guttman …. and Calvin, a fully mature Silky Shark who ignored social distancing rules and swam in close proximity to the group for more than 8 hours. Calvin did not get credit for the channel as he failed to make it above the high water line.

In addition to not letting Stefan swim more than him, Ryan is a founding member, and President, of the largely fictional and highly insignificant, Ala Moana Beach Swim Club (AMBSC). Despite a self-impeachment attempt, his utter contempt for swimming at Ala Moana, has ensured a lifetime appointment to the office. The AMBSC is a ‘loosely knit group of followers’ best known for worshiping pagan sun gods during their annual Summer Solstice Swim, the Birthday Buoy Game, 2k Friday, and questionable life choices. They are also huge enablers of open water swimming in Hawaii and actively look to help others achieve their open water goals.

Ryan is supported by his very tolerant and understanding wife of 20 years, Bonnie, and their dogs Lily and Bubba-Fuzz.