In late June, 36-year-old marathon swimmer, multidisciplinary artist and Baltimore resident Katie Pumphrey set a record when she became the first person ever to complete a 24-mile open water swim from Sandy Point State Park near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Baltimore Harbor.
It wasn’t her first rodeo, so to speak – the longtime swimmer and swim coach has competed in major swim meets around the world, including around Manhattan Island and across the English Channel. But in this meet, just months after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, she felt like she had all of Baltimore behind her. Over the course of 14 hours, day and night, she navigated from the country’s largest estuary up the Patapsco River to Harborplace Amphitheatre, where a horde of cheering fans awaited her.
We sat down with Pumphrey to hear about her epic swimming adventure and how water influences her art.
You’ve been a swimmer your whole life and got into open water swimming at the local Chesapeake Bay Swim in 2010. How did you transition to larger swimming competitions around the world?
I started reading books and memoirs by other swimmers. Ultramarathon swimming is a uniquely female-centric sport, with pioneers like English Channel swimmer Lynne Cox. I eventually swam the Channel twice myself, in 2015 and 2022, and found the most welcoming and encouraging community of ultramarathon swimmers anywhere in the world. Lynne Cox actually called me to wish me luck. The public underestimates women, but no one does in this sport.
How did you come up with the idea for the Bay to Baltimore Swim?
When the Waterfront Partnership announced that Baltimore Harbor would be open for swimming in 2023, I wanted to get involved. Three minutes later, I emailed them… I wanted the swim to be great, 20 to 30 miles long, and I wanted it to bring positive attention to Baltimore. The Bay Bridge is 24 miles away, and this felt perfect to us.
How was the swimming?
I left Sandy Point in the dark, and it was wild. It’s really hard to find a rhythm; plus, that’s when the imagination is at its loudest. I kept thinking about (possible) sharks, and I told myself, “It’s their living room, you’re just swimming by.” But then came the most beautiful hour of sunrise. When I reached (one remaining section of) the Key Bridge, the conditions were really rough. I switched to backstroke to get under the last section. The sun disappeared behind it, and it was overwhelming and incredibly moving. I took a few deep breaths, turned back around, and kept going.
What influence does swimming have on your work as an artist?
Much of my work is about playing with our instincts to respond to stress and chaos – how our imagination can play tricks on us and how we can use humor to offset these fears. I draw on my experiences in the water, teetering between solid ground and unstable ground. Sharks, alligators – they are sea monsters that represent our fears and I explore how we can overcome them.
