Wenger, Glenn recognized as 2018 festival awardees

Ryan Wenger and Sylvia Glenn have been named as Semana Nautica’s distinguished 2018 festival honorees for the Athlete of the Year and the Jeff Farrell Award.

The Athlete of the Year is reserved for a Semana Nautica participant who exhibits outstanding athletic performance and sportsmanship during that year’s fesitval. For his part, Wenger was Semana Nautica’s most prolific athlete in 2018, completing the Mullen & Henzell 1-Mile Swim, the Reef & Run 1-Mile Swim, the Mullen & Henzell 3-Mile Swim, and the Semana Nautica 6-Mile Swim. Wenger was active out of the water as well, putting on his running shoes and finishing 32nd overall in the 4th of July 15K at Elings Park.

The Jeff Farrell Award is given to those that support and embody the spirit of Semana Nautica. Jeff Farrell is a longtime Semana Nautica boardmember who won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics merely two weeks after an emergency appendectomy. Farrell continues to demonstrate commitment and excellence in athletics, recently winning a national championship at the Masters level.

Glenn has been competing in Semana Nautica events since the 1980s and has swam in the Semana Nautica 1-Mile Swim every year but two since 1985. In 2018, Glenn completed the race at age 80, becoming the first person to do so at that age for many years. Sylvia’s strong will to compete and her incredible age-group performance is deserving of the Jeff Farrell Award.

The honorees received an award plaque from the Semana Nautica Association and were recognized in person at Reef & Run’s beach party on August 24th.