1-Mile Swim 2023 Open Recap

In our inaugural 1-Mile Swim workout, which took place August 2–8, we saw record registrations and some world-class times by several living donors, including two athletes who went sub-26 minutes.

In the women’s division, Courtney Cox recorded a blistering time of 25:14, edging out Sophia Goode (26:08) by less than 60 seconds. In the men’s division, Jon Sullenberger recorded an incredible time of 25:32, edging out Chris Sullivan (26:00) by less than 30 seconds.

Transplant recipient athletes also recorded some eye-popping times. Sydney Sullivan, a liver transplant recipient, won the women’s division with an impressive time of 27:12. She competed alongside her brother, Thomas Sullivan, who was her liver donor. They swam in parallel lanes and even shared the same video recording. Donor Games veteran Scott Claybrook took home first in the men’s division with a strong time of 32:56. Wilson Du clocked in at 50:24 to take second place.

The living donor women category was filled with Donor Games newcomers, but in true Donor Games fashion, they delivered the speed. Courtney Cox, a 2023 donor and former high school swimmer and triathlete, put up the fastest time across all competitors. Sophia Goode held the lead for much of the event but was edged out on the last day by Courtney. Sophia was followed by Victoria Threadgould, who turned in the third-place time of 29:10. Donor Games regulars Radley West and Mimi Mahon rounded out the top five. Newcomer Laura Diaz Moore, a dual living kidney and liver donor, finished in eighth place, representing dual donors well in her first Donor Games event.

The male donors saw constant churn at the top of the leaderboard throughout the entire competition. With five different athletes holding first place at different times, it was truly anyone’s race. Jason Elmore, Anonymous Donor, Garet Hil and Chris Sullivan all held the top position at least once during the seven-day competition, but it was former West Point NCAA swimmer Jon Sullenberger who edged out Chris Sullivan on the last day to take home first place. Chris Sullivan and Jon Sullenberger submitted their first videos within 15 seconds of each other on day four, pushing Hil out of first place and setting up their head-to-head duel. We had strong veteran participation in our swim event, with two military-trained swimmers in the top three positions—Sullenberger, a graduate of Army Water Survival Training, and Hil, a graduate of the Navy’s Combat Dive school.

Final Leaderboard

DNC (Did Not Compete): Registered athlete did not submit a competition video.

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