He Swam Around the World

Herbert Howe died on June 29, 2010 at the age of 98. See his obituary here.

He was a long time member of the Wisconsin Masters Aquatic Club (WMAC) going back to the 1970s. He had 32 All-American swims since 1977 and held many national records in the distance freestyle events. In 1996 at the age of 83, Herb, along with Betty Kendall (75), Fran Zeumer (76), and Lynn Surles  (78), set a national record in the 75+ SCY 400 free mixed relay in a time of 6:37.85, which stood until 2008.

Herb was Professor Emeritus of Classics and Integrated Liberal Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He calculated that he had swum enough laps in 80 years to have swum around the world and was featured in the article Around the World in 80 Years (University of Wisconsin-Madison News, 11/28/2000).