Ultra marathon swimmer Katie Pumphrey is an accomplished athlete. She swam the English Channel twice, circumnavigated Manhattan and completed the DC Marathon Swim.
And in June, she added to her impressive accomplishments in local waters. Pumphrey swam the 24-miles from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge into Baltimore's Inner Harbor, a route no one else has completed before.
SOCLOSE - get ready everyone! Amphitheater at the Inner Harbor. Katie is making her way downtown, swimmin fast, kayaks pass and she’s homebound
— Kaitlin Newman (@KaitlinObscura) June 25, 2024
🏊🏼♀️☀️ pic.twitter.com/NdD2kIsR0R
She says her love for Baltimore energized her every stroke through the Patapsco River's waters.
“I love this city so much,” Pumphrey told Baltimore Banner. “Baltimore should be proud of our city. I want more people to talk about how awesome it is. So, if my swim helps to highlight everything that the city is and has been and can be — I’m just honored.”
Pumphrey joins Midday to talk about her momentous journey, and what it means to her to open water swim in her city's own backyard.
![Katie Pumphrey and Tom Hall in WYPR's studios.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e9d54a3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3072x3160+0+0/resize/880x905!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd0%2F9b%2F5994e38a44828de65e6c5c8230ca%2Fkatie-and-tom-07112024.jpg)