Bish siblings share Ocean Swimmer of the Year honors
Andrea Bish is now a two-time champion of the Semana Nautica Ocean Swimming Point Series while brother John Bish earned the title for the first time during the 2022 Semana Nautica Summer Sports Festival in Santa Barbara.
The Ocean Swimmers of the Year will be recognized and awarded trophies on Thursday, August 18 at Reef & Run’s post-race party. There will be live music on the beach from Down Mountain Lights and dinner available from Los Ondas. All are welcome to attend the awards ceremony taking place around 7:30 p.m.
Andrea Bish, 19, captured the Ocean Swimmer of the Year title for the second time (2018 previously). She was the overall top women’s finisher in the Mullen & Henzell 3-Mile Ocean Swim and the Reef and Run 1-Mile Swim on June 30th. Bish added a second-place result in the Mullen & Henzell 2-Mile Ocean Swim and two more top-four performances at Reef and Run on June 23rd and July 7th.
John Bish was even more prolific than his older sister. The seventeen year old was champion in three races and added a runner-up finish in another. Bish was victorious in the 2-Mile Ocean Swim, the 6-Mile Ocean Swim, and a Reef and Run 1-Mile Swim.
Overall, seven men and four women qualified for the Ocean Swimmer of the Year standings. Jonathan Dolan and Alethea Butler-Nalin were runner-ups. Dolan, who won the festival’s Stud Ironman competition as well as the Mullen & Henzell 3-Mile Ocean Swim, was named Semana Nautica Athlete of the Year.
The Semana Nautica Ocean Swimmer of the Year is determined by a points system based on the open-water swimming races during the festival. To qualify, competitors must swim in the Mullen & Henzell 2-Mile Swim, at least one of the three 1-mile races at Reef and Run, and either the Mullen & Henzell 3-mile race or the Semana Nautica 6-Mile Ocean Swim.
The Semana Nautica Ocean Swimmer of the Year point series was introduced in 2013.
PAST WINNERS:
2022: John Bish & Andrea Bish
2021: No Festival
2020: No Festival
2019: Taylor Steffen & Dani Castleberg
2018: Miles Gaitan & Andrea Bish
2017: Taylor Steffen & Olivia Smith
2016: Chris Braden & Olivia Smith
2015: Taylor Steffen & Karen Schultz
2014: Ben Brewer & Olivia Smith
2013: Ben Brewer & Lucy Faust