Sue Phillips’ Marathon Swim Story

My guest today is fellow Oregonian Sue Phillips. While Sue assured me that her story was not that interesting, she kept coming up with stories… I fondly remember playing leap frog with her in Lake Massawippi last year, but that was just the beginning… she’s lost her kayaker around Lido Key, ridden the waves in the Chesapeake, and swam the width in Tahoe during a pandemic. Everyone has a story. I hope you enjoy Sue’s!

In her own words: Sue is a middle-aged swimmer, camper, scientist-civil servant, mother, trail runner and beginner rower. She has no stand-out achievements in any of these defining activities, although her 17 year-old daughter is pretty dang cool, she’s supported some extremely important conservation science, and is purported to be quite a good swim companion. Swimming and supporting other swimmers are where she finds her greatest joy, particularly if she can do these things while camping, She’s not swum terribly far or in any extraordinary conditions, although she’s found all attempts to date to pile on distance and adversity to be quite fun, and is regularly and incrementally pushing limits in both.