2020 Inducted into the New England LMSC Hall of Fame (Open Water/Long Distance)
2017 Inducted into the Vermont Open Water Swimming Hall of Fame
Third person to complete the Triple Crown of Monster Swims, solo crossings of:
2016 Lake Tahoe – 21.5 miles
2015 Loch Ness – 22.2 miles
2011 Lake Memphremagog – 25 miles
32nd person to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, solo crossings of:
2009 English Channel – 21 miles
2009 Around Manhattan Island – 28.5 miles
2008 Catalina Channel – 20 miles
2019 Swim the Suck, Tennessee River, Chattanooga, TN – 10 miles
2019 First female to complete the 3x Boston Light Swim – 24 miles
2019 Solo circumnavigation of Absecon Island, NJ – 22 miles
2018 Mackinac Straits, MI – 4.4 miles
2018 Great Chesapeake Bay Swim, MD – 4.4 miles
2017 END-WET race up the Red River, Grand Forks, ND – 36 miles
2017 Mercer Island Marathon Swim, WA – 12.5 miles
2017 Ice Kilometer, International Ice Swimming Association World Championships - 5th place
2015 Lake Del Valle, CA – 10 km
2014 First person to swim the length of Lake Pend Oreille, ID – 32.3 miles
2012 Swim Across America Long Beach – 10 km
2012 Fifth American to complete an Ice Mile, Boston Harbor
2011 Ederle Swim, NY – 17.5 miles
2011 Lake Willoughby Swim, VT – 5 miles
2010 2x Boston Light – 16 miles, Fastest female
2010, 2013 Kingdom Swim, VT – 10 miles
2007, 2009, 2011 Flat River Reservoir, RI – 10 km
2006, 2007, 2008 Boston Light Swim – 8 miles
USMS Top Ten – 1 individual, 1 relay
Club: New England Masters (NEM)
Elaine K. Howley grew up in South Jersey’s summer league swimming ecosystem, and joined a club team in middle school. In high school, she could be relied upon to earn a solid second or third place in the 500 free or 200 IM (and whatever other events no one else wanted to swim), and thus earned her role as captain through persistence rather than speed. After spending her freshman year of college rather miserably rowing crew, she walked onto the swim team at Georgetown University, where again, she was not a point-earner but cracked the whip with the underclassmen during workouts.
During the summers while in college, Elaine worked as a lifeguard on Long Beach Island in New Jersey, which introduced her to open water swimming. In 2006, after having completed graduate school at Emerson College, Elaine began swimming more and her love the ocean drew her to open water. Her first official marathon swim was the 2006 Boston Light Swim, an event she now directs.
Since then, her resume has grown to include several record marathon swims, and she continues to plan and enjoy as many ultramarathon swims around the world as she can. A swimming journalist, Elaine documents the sport for several publications, including USMS’s SWIMMER magazine and the UK-based open water magazine, Outdoor Swimmer. She’s also deeply involved in the administration of marathon swimming, helping others to achieve their open water goals as a crew member, mentor, and observer both locally through the Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association and farther afield through the Marathon Swimmers Federation.
