Tom Hetzel - South Texas Distance Swimmer

I became interested in doing a Bio of Tom Hetzel because I kept hearing rumors that he had swum the English Channel more times than any other police officer, but after talking to Tom at the 2002 USMS convention during the Long Distance bids I was amazed to learn the extent of his marathon swimming back ground. He had swum every single location that was bidding for a National Championship and he offered great editorial comments about each site!!! I was truly amazed because there were bids from all over the US.

The following summary of Tom’s Marathon Swimming Career comes from the book Conquest of the English Channel, (1985), written by Bud Dallman. The book is a biography of Tom Hetzel’s swimming carrer up to that time.

"Throw away the stop watch and use the calendar."

Thomas J. Hetzel, who this year observes 35 years as a championship distance swimmer, once gave that advice to a fellow coach who was asking about distance swimming.

Hardly anyone is better qualified on the subject. In his 30-year career that started in 1950 as a prep member of St. Francis High School championship swimming team in his native New York City, Hetzel has logged more than enough miles in the world’s waterways to circle the earth, including eight successful solo swims across the English Channel.

And while Hetzel was not the first to swim the Channel, his first swim on August 26, 1967, of 41 miles is believed to be a distance record for an English Channel swimmer. That swim, from France to England, was made in 18 hours, 54 minutes. His last Channel swim came 10 years later, July 17, 1977, from England to France, and was made in 15 hours, 3 minutes.

The Channel swims, of course, resulted in worldwide recognition and literally scores of honors, Hetzel has been received by the American Ambassador to England in London, and by governors both in this country and in France in recognition of his many swimming accomplishments

In his travels around the world, Hetzel has managed to swim, and in some cases set records, in 18 bodies of water. These include Canada’s Lake St. John and Saguenay River; a 20 – mile swim of the Aswan High Dam region of the Nile River in Egypt; a 30 – mile solo swim in the gulf of Lower California in Mexico; an extraordinary swim in New York of 30 miles from Point Lookout, to Jones beach inlet, back around the Rockaways, to the Atlantic Beach bridge, and then back to Hones Beach inlet; in Santa Fe, Argentine, and in 1980-1984 eight swims around Manhattan Island.

Of all the honors Hetzel has received, perhaps the dearest of all came quite unexpectedly when one of the greatest and most respected swim coaches in the world, the highly successful “Doc” Counsilman, asked Hetzel to coach him in long distance swimming.

Counsilman, at age 59, was determined to become the oldest man to swim the English Channel. His experience, however was somewhat limited to sprint type swimming, where the ruling factor was the stopwatch. Thus came Hetzel’s advice: "Throw away the stopwatch and use the calendar."

Hetzel started Counsilman’s training by slowing his stroke down to 60 per minute and instituted an eight – month training program that prepared Counsilman both physically and psychologically for the marathon swim.

Counsilman’s day came on September 14, 1979. He entered the water on the English side at 6:13 a.m. and after 13 hours and 7 minutes emerged on the shores of France – then the oldest man to make the swim. The two men have been fast personal friends ever since.

Hetzel is often asked why he took up long distance swimming. His answer: "To test myself." He says that as a youth he learned an important lesson. His great ambition at that time was to become centerfielder for the New York Yankee baseball team. Upon entering high school in Brooklyn, Hetzel immediately tried out for the baseball team as a centerfielder.

"I did lousy," says Hetzel. "Nothing I did was right that first day. I figured I was through." However, much to his surprise Hetzel’s name was on the tryout roster for the second day. To his further surprise, the coach sent him in as a pitcher, at which spot he made the team.

From this experience, Hetzel said he learned to resist the temptation to quit. "One more chance," he says, "can lead to success."

Another bit of advice he gives his audiences is to "Never allow negative words to creep into your vocabulary. Maintain a positive attitude and a positive vocabulary." As a result of this attitude and years of training and dedication, Hetzel was one of five marathon simmers in the world inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, for 1980.

Hetzel has one other hobby besides swimming – he collects walking sticks from around the world. But one thing is almost certain – if he maintains his present swimming fitness program, and positive attitude, he will probably never get to use one of them.

Bud Dallman

Tom continues to swim and leave his mark on swimming…

In the early 80’s Tom’s friend Drury Gallagher tragically lost his son in an accident. At this time, Tom regularly swam around Manhattan Island more or less because it was there. Sensing his friend’s depression over his loss, Tom suggested to Drury that they swim around Manhattan Island and invite others to do so with them and make the swim around Manhattan Island a Memorial Swim to Drury’s son. As an added incentive to Drury, who is a fast pool swimmer, Tom told Drury he had to give him an hour head start. He knew that this would be a "carrot" that would make Drury more interested in doing the swim. Well, Drury took the bait and they both finished the swim as well as others. As part of the safety rules of the race, they asked that each participant have their own boat to accompany them. This swim caught the attention of the press and enough publicity was generated that Tom and Drury were able to get corporate sponsorship for the race by putting company logos on the boats. From this humble beginning, this swim has evolved into the Manhattan Island Swim that we all have heard about. The proceeds from the swim are donated to charity. Tom will swim at the 2003 Two Mile National Championship Cable Swim, to be held May 3 at Decker Lake in Austin, TX.

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