Baltimore ultra-marathon swimmer Katie Pumphrey completes six-hour swim in Inner Harbor
Katie Pumphrey completed a six-hour swim on April 25 in Baltimore's Inner Harbor as she looks to qualify for a chance to swim the English Channel in July.
By Stephon Dingle
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BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — Local News Baltimore ultra-marathon swimmer Katie Pumphrey completes six-hour swim in Inner Harbor baltimore By Stephon Dingle Updated on: April 24, 2025 / 8:07 PM EDT / CBS Baltimore
Katie Pumphrey, a Baltimore open-water ultra-marathon swimmer, is preparing for another long-distance challenge, her third English Channel crossing.
Pumphrey completed a six-hour swim on Thursday in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor as she looks to qualify for a chance to swim the English Channel in July.
“This morning, we’re out for a six-hour training swim, really excited to kick off my 2025 season here, my open-water swim season,” Pumphrey said.
In 2024, she completed a historic 12+-hour swim from the Chesapeake Bay to the Inner Harbor.
“The English Channel is salty, rough, big wave water” The water temperature was just right for this swim in the Inner Harbor, at about 59 to 60 degrees.
As crazy as it sounds to hear about anybody swimming in the Inner Harbor, Pumphrey wants to encourage others to open water swim while she chases another ultra marathon.
Pumphrey is using this six-hour swim as a qualifying practice for her third English Channel crossing.
“I’m just really excited to swim around,” Pumphrey said. “It doesn’t matter how far we go for this six-hour, it’s just time.”
Pumphrey is gearing up for a jam-packed spring and summer in various waters, stroke by stroke, working to represent Baltimore in her long-distance swimming challenges.
“The English Channel is salty, rough, big wave water; it’s a 21-mile stretch between England and France,” Pumphrey said. “You don’t swim in a straight line, however, because of those changes in current and tide, and you plan to swim in an S, so my 2015 and 2022 English Channel swims were closer to 36 to 37 miles.”
While the Inner Harbor’s waters are calm in comparison to the choppy English Channel, Pumphrey is pumping each stroke to also show other Baltimoreans that our Harbor is safe to swim.
“More and more is happening, I’m really excited for this to be a more regular thing,” Pumphrey said. “Open water swimming should be done with a lot of safety in place and with all things in mind. Our Inner Harbor is a beautiful place for open water swimming.”
Pumphrey is expected to swim the Bay to Harbor ultra swim in June, which is an annual 12 to 13-hour swim that celebrates the progress toward a cleaner and more swimmable Inner Harbor.
The 24-mile journey will begin at Sandy Point State Park near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
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