Seth Baetzold was determined to get another shot at the English Channel.
In 2022, the Minnesota native was ready to attempt the crossing, but the conditions were not right and it was scratched.
“I returned to Minnesota with disappointment but not defeat,” Baetzold said.
That attitude paid off as he earned another shot and completed the crossing of the channel on July 23. It took him 11 hours and 23 minutes to cross.
Photo Courtesy: Seth Baetzold
“The big reason I did this event was to follow in the steps of my friend Adam Grimm from Iowa State, who swam the channel in 2015. The journey of the English Channel swim encompassed two sudden job losses, many set backs and a windy path, but I persevered,” he said. “I believe the journey is as important as the reward and finish.”
But the swim itself was worth the wait.
“I had the experience of swimming by all sorts of jellyfish – compass, moon, and lions mane,” he said. “I was out in the channel with military boats, cargo ships, freighters and other channel swimmers.”
While it was his first English Channel crossing, it was not his first big open water swim. He has swam the 36-mile END-WET River Race in North Dakota six times and has completed ultramarathon swims like the Catalina Channel and across Lake Tahoe.
This swim needed a boost in training, and Baetzold got down to business.
“I swam 1.3 million yards as recorded on Strava in 2024, between pools, lakes, rivers and oceans swims,” he said. “I focused on high intensity 4,000-6,000 yard workouts to prepare with 10K and ultra distance swims sprinkled in 10-12 times a year. I swim in the lakes and rivers from May to mid October. During the spring and fall I enjoy doing longer workouts in 50-60 degree water to train, and when the winter comes I do ice dipping and even ice swimming.”
That included an ice swim in February in Minnesota where he raced with Olympian Cody Miller.
Photo Courtesy: Seth Baetzold
Photo Courtesy: Seth Baetzold
