Biography
Michelle Macy is an American marathon swimmer whose career grew from competitive swimming into a wide-ranging programme of channel, lake and island swims. A published profile describes her swimming through college before pursuing marathon challenges while working at Nike. She has also used the MacySwim for a Cure initiative to support breast-cancer research at the University of Minnesota.
Macy completed her first English Channel solo in 2007, recording 10 hours 2 minutes and receiving the Channel Swimming Association’s fastest American swim award that year. She returned in 2009 and 2012, with all three successful England-to-France crossings appearing in the association’s records. Beyond the Channel, the Catalina federation records her 2008 crossing in 10:12:31, while New Zealand’s recognised-swim list places her Cook Strait crossing on 3 March 2010.
Her North Channel swim in July 2013 completed Oceans Seven, making her the first American and third person to finish the challenge according to the contemporary pilot-service account. Her Hall of Fame biography also recognises pioneering work in Alaska, speed achievements around Jersey and repeated success at the Pennock Island Challenge. Inducted as an IMSHOF Honor Swimmer in 2019, Macy has combined individual endurance goals with fundraising and participation in the wider swimming community.
Selected Channel swim records
English Channel solo · 2007
Ratifying body's record checked
Recorded swim date · Saturday, 22 September 2007 · Start or finish date not specified by the source
Elapsed swim time · 10h 2m
Duration of the complete swim
Started · Exact start date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Finished · Exact finish date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Timing note · No verified departure or arrival clock is available.
Format · Solo · 1-way
Direction · England to France
Pilot / piloting team · Reg Brickell
Escort vessel · Viking Princess
Official observers · Mike Philips
Ratification / historical recognition · Channel Swimming Association
How this record was checked
Personally inspected the CSA successful entry for Michelle Macy in 2007: United States, solo, one-way England to France, 10:02. The matching Dover archive supplies the date and crew details. IMSHOF independently identifies her three Channel solos and connects them to her broader career.
Channel Swimming Association: Michelle Macy, 2007
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Completed one-way England-to-France solo swim in 2007, 10:02; United States.
Limitations · The public entry supplies the year and elapsed time; the day and additional crew details come from the separately cited Dover archive.
Dover archive: Michelle Macy, 2007-09-22
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Exact published swim date, route, pilot and escort boat; 2007 observer.
Limitations · Independent historical archive; the CSA entry separately establishes successful completion and elapsed time.
IMSHOF: Michelle Macy athlete biography
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · United States identity, 2019 induction, three Channel swims, Oceans Seven, other career achievements and charity work.
Limitations · Some durations are rounded; the event records below retain the more precise federation values.
English Channel solo · 2009
Ratifying body's record checked
Recorded swim date · Tuesday, 30 June 2009 · Start or finish date not specified by the source
Elapsed swim time · 11h 37m
Duration of the complete swim
Started · Exact start date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Finished · Exact finish date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Timing note · No verified departure or arrival clock is available.
Format · Solo · 1-way
Direction · England to France
Pilot / piloting team · Reg Brickell
Escort vessel · Viking Princess
Ratification / historical recognition · Channel Swimming Association
How this record was checked
Personally inspected the CSA successful entry for Michelle Macy in 2009: United States, solo, one-way England to France, 11:37. The matching Dover archive supplies the date and crew details. IMSHOF independently identifies her three Channel solos and connects them to her broader career.
Channel Swimming Association: Michelle Macy, 2009
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Completed one-way England-to-France solo swim in 2009, 11:37; United States.
Limitations · The public entry supplies the year and elapsed time; the day and additional crew details come from the separately cited Dover archive.
Dover archive: Michelle Macy, 2009-06-30
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Exact published swim date, route, pilot and escort boat; 2007 observer.
Limitations · Independent historical archive; the CSA entry separately establishes successful completion and elapsed time.
IMSHOF: Michelle Macy athlete biography
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · United States identity, 2019 induction, three Channel swims, Oceans Seven, other career achievements and charity work.
Limitations · Some durations are rounded; the event records below retain the more precise federation values.
English Channel solo · 2012
Ratifying body's record checked
Recorded swim date · Thursday, 26 July 2012 · Start or finish date not specified by the source
Elapsed swim time · 10h 35m
Duration of the complete swim
Started · Exact start date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Finished · Exact finish date not confirmed · Clock time not confirmed
Timing note · Dover’s individual page prints 26/27 July 2012; its index uses 26 July. The earlier date is retained as recordDate, with no inferred departure/arrival clocks.
Format · Solo · 1-way
Direction · England to France
Pilot / piloting team · Reg Brickell
Escort vessel · Viking Princess
Ratification / historical recognition · Channel Swimming Association
How this record was checked
Personally inspected the CSA successful entry for Michelle Macy in 2012: United States, solo, one-way England to France, 10:35. The matching Dover archive supplies the date and crew details. IMSHOF independently identifies her three Channel solos and connects them to her broader career.
Channel Swimming Association: Michelle Macy, 2012
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Completed one-way England-to-France solo swim in 2012, 10:35; United States.
Limitations · The public entry supplies the year and elapsed time; the day and additional crew details come from the separately cited Dover archive.
Dover archive: Michelle Macy, 2012-07-26
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Exact published swim date, route, pilot and escort boat; 2007 observer.
Limitations · Independent historical archive; the CSA entry separately establishes successful completion and elapsed time.
IMSHOF: Michelle Macy athlete biography
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · United States identity, 2019 induction, three Channel swims, Oceans Seven, other career achievements and charity work.
Limitations · Some durations are rounded; the event records below retain the more precise federation values.
Other events & swims
Catalina Channel
Open-water swimming · Solo swim
Tuesday, 7 October 2008 (event date)
Catalina Island to the California mainland
Completed a solo Catalina-to-mainland crossing.
Elapsed time · 10h 12m 31s
Published account checked
How this event was checked
CCSF successful solo register, swimmer 164: Michelle Macy, 7 October 2008, CM, 10:12:31. The register’s nationality convention indicates USA. Her Hall of Fame career identifies the same Catalina crossing, rounding the duration to 10:13.
Catalina Channel Swimming Federation: successful solo swims
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Selected successful solo entries; swimmer number, date, direction and elapsed time.
Limitations · A date of swim does not identify the departure or arrival clock. The register says swimmers are from the USA except where another country is printed.
IMSHOF: Michelle Macy athlete biography
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · United States identity, 2019 induction, three Channel swims, Oceans Seven, other career achievements and charity work.
Limitations · Some durations are rounded; the event records below retain the more precise federation values.
Cook Strait
Open-water swimming · Solo swim
Wednesday, 3 March 2010 (event date)
New Zealand: North Island to South Island
Completed a North Island-to-South Island solo crossing.
Elapsed time · 8h 2m 0s
Published account checked
How this event was checked
NZOWSA recognised-swim row 75: Michelle Macy, United States of America, 3 March 2010, 08:02:00, North Island to South Island. The unstarred entry is a recognised historical swim; no separate NZOWSA ratification is claimed. IMSHOF corroborates the event and duration.
NZOWSA: recognised Cook Strait swims
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Selected named entries, countries, event dates, durations and direction.
Limitations · An asterisk identifies NZOWSA ratification. The historical Macy, Miller and More entries used here are unstarred; recognition is not represented as fresh NZOWSA ratification.
IMSHOF: Michelle Macy athlete biography
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · United States identity, 2019 induction, three Channel swims, Oceans Seven, other career achievements and charity work.
Limitations · Some durations are rounded; the event records below retain the more precise federation values.
North Channel
Open-water swimming · Solo swim
Monday, 15 July 2013 (event date)
Northern Ireland to Scotland
Completed the North Channel and her Oceans Seven campaign; reported at the time as a new crossing record.
Elapsed time · 9h 34m 39s
Ratification reported by source
How this event was checked
The opened Guinness record page explicitly identifies Michelle Macy (USA), 15 July 2013, Northern Ireland to Scotland, 9:34:39, and attributes verification to ILDSA. The contemporary Nelsons Boats caption corroborates her completion of Oceans Seven. The original ILDSA observer report was not inspected.
Guinness World Records: Michelle Macy North Channel record
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Explicitly records Michelle Macy, USA, 15 July 2013, 9:34:39, Northern Ireland to Scotland, with verification attributed to ILDSA.
Limitations · Guinness reports ILDSA verification; the underlying ILDSA observer report was not inspected. No claim about the present record standing is needed for this historical performance.
Nelsons Boats: Michelle Macy North Channel completion
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · Pilot-service archive caption dated 15 July 2013; 9:34 crossing, first American and third Oceans Seven finisher.
Limitations · A dated contemporary photograph caption, not the observer report. Duration is printed only to minutes; no current record claim is made.
IMSHOF: Michelle Macy athlete biography
Checked 2026-10-31
Supports · United States identity, 2019 induction, three Channel swims, Oceans Seven, other career achievements and charity work.
Limitations · Some durations are rounded; the event records below retain the more precise federation values.
USA