Some have impact in a subtle manner; others are aided by the media or their own marketing efforts. Some seek to be influential; others merely wield power by the force of their actions, events, achievements statements or prose.

However way these individuals are involved in the the sport, the following men can be considered to be among the movers and shakers in the world of open water swimming. It is, by far, an incomplete global list, but these men are open water ambassadors, spreading their enthusiasm and passion for the sport:

Listed in alphabetical order:

1. Alexander Brylin (Russia): Coordinator, Ice Swimmer and President of the AQUICE-sport Federation
2. Andy Caine (England): Elite Project Manager, Nova International Ltd for British Gas Great Swim Series
3. Andy Wright (England): Observer, Race Director and Honorary Secretary, British Long Distance Swimming Association
4. Arie and René Lemstra (Netherlands): Father-and-son team and Race Directors
5. Ben Lecomte (France): Adventure Swimmer who crossed the Atlantic Ocean and will do a stage solo swim across the Pacific Ocean
6. Ben Stubenberg (Turks & Caicos): Race Director and Coordinator, West Indies Bluewater Ocean Swim Series
7. Billy Wallace (Ireland): President, Ireland Long Distance Swimming Association
8. Bob Placak (USA): Race Director, RCP Tiburon Mile and Relay Team Captain
9. Bruckner Chase (USA/American Samoa): Ocean Advocate and Creator of 2Samoas/1Ocean
10. Buls Werner (Belgium): Race director, Belgium Marathon Swimming Championships and Wedstrijden Willebroek
11. Charlie Gravett (Jersey): Pilot and Vice President, Jersey Long Distance Swimming Club
12. Chris Sheean (USA): Race Director, Big Shoulders
13. Colin Hill (England): Marathon Swimming Technical Operations Manager for the 2012 London Olympics
14. Cor de Bruin (Netherlands): Race Director of the IJsselmeer swimmarathon, Brakenoer Trophy and Jan van Scheijndel Memorial
15. Cornel Marculescu (Austria): FINA Executive Director that sanctions FINA open water swims
16. Dale Petranech (USA): Honorary Secretary of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
17. Dan Martin (England): Adventure Swimmer who will attempt the Global Triathlon
18. David Clark (USA): Board Director, Catalina Channel Swimming Federation and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
19. David Robinson (England): President of Speedo International
20. David Sparkes OBE (England): CEO, British Swimming and Amateur Swimming Association
21. Dennis Miller (Fiji): Liaison, FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and FINA Bureau member
22. Dimitris Kakalikas (Greece): Race Director, Coach and FINA Open Water Swimming Official
23. Donal Buckley (Ireland): Blogger, Commentator, Swimmer
24. Doug Woodring (USA/Hong Kong): Race Director, Environmentalist & Founder of Ocean Recovery Alliance
25. Emanuele Sacchi (Italy): Elite and National Team Coach of Italy
26. Eric Juneau (Canada): General Manager, Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean (2 FINA pro races) (shown above)
27. Forrest Nelson (USA): Marathon Swimmer and President, Catalina Channel Swimming Federation
28. Frank Flowers (Cayman Islands): Namesake and Race Director, Flowers Sea Swim
29. Dr. Jim Miller (USA): FINA Sports Medicine Committee Member and FINA Medical Delegate
30. Gadi Katz (Israel): Coach, Swimmer and Race Director
31. Gary Emich (USA): Author, Lesson from Alcatraz, coach and San Francisco Bay aquapreneur
32. Gerry Rodrigues (USA): Triathlon, Swimming and Open Water Coach and Tower 26 Creator
33. Glen Christiansen (Sweden): Coach and Masters / Elite Swimmer Training Camp Director
34. Hans Beenker (Netherlands): Race Director, Open Dutch Championships and the LEN Cup in Hoorn, Netherlands
35. Henk Verbeke (Belgium): Race Director, Damme-Brugge Open Water Swim
36. Jack Bright (England): Documentary Filmmaker, Coordinator and Extreme Swimmer
37. Jamie Patrick (USA): Adventure Swimmer
38. John Mix (USA): Co-founder and President of FINIS
39. Jose Diaz (Spain): Blogger, Reporter and Coach
40. Julian Critchlow (England): Vice Chairman, Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation and English Channel Statistician
41. Keith Bell (USA): Race Director, Author, Psychologist and Founder, American Swimming Association
42. Kester Edwards (USA): Board Member, Special Olympics International and Coordinator for Leadership Development and Education, Special Olympics International
43. Kevin Murphy (England): Prolific marathon swimmer, Honorary Secretary, Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation and President, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
44. Kiril Todorov (Mexico): President, Mexican Swimming Federation
45. Ky Hurst (Australia): 2-time Olympic Swimmer and Australian Surf Lifesaving Champion
46. Lewis Gordon Pugh, OIG (South Africa): Pioneer Swimmer, Motivational Speaker, Environmental Campaigner
47. Marcellus Wiley (USA): ESPN Commentator and Learn-to-swim Advocate
48. Marcos Diaz (Dominican Republic): Adventure Swimmer for United Nations and Motivational Speaker
49. Mark Perry (England): British Development and National Team Head Coach of Open Water Swimming for British Swimming
50. Martin Cullen (Ireland): Observer, Race Organizer and Member, Irish Long Distance Swimming Association
51. Martin Strel (Slovenia): Big River Man
52. Martin Suzan (England): Swim Course Group Leader, Olympic Triathlon and the Water Safety Officer for the Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km
53. Mel Stewart (USA): Filmmaker, Swimming Authority and Gold Medal Mel creator
54. Michael Oram (England): English Channel Pilot and Chairman, Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation
55. Michael Read MBE (England): President, Channel Swimming Association
56. Mohamed Marouf (Canada/Egypt): Coach of Swimming Canada
57. Ned Denison (Ireland): Administrator, Cork Distance Week Organizer and Motivator
58. Nejib Belhedi (Tunisia): Event Director and Channel and Adventure Swimmer
59. Nelson Vargas (Mexico): Race Director, Swimming Benefactor and Owner, Acuática nelsonvargas
60. Nick Adams (England): Channel Swimmer and President, Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation
61. Niek Kloots (Netherlands): Race Official / Director and Webmaster and Co-founder, European Open Water Swimming
62. Nino Fazio (Italy): Historian, Coach, Administrator of Baiadigrotta in the Strait of Messina
63. Patrick Winkler (Brazil): Publisher, The Swim Channel Magazine
64. Paul Asmuth (USA): Coach, Advisor to USA Swimming National Team Head Coach, and Open Water Chief of the Mission
65. Paul Ellercamp (Australia): Owner and operator, OceanSwims.com
66. Paul Newsome (England): Founder and Head Coach, Swim Smooth
67. Pedro Rego Monteiro (Brazil): Founder, Effect Sports and Race Director, King and Queen of the Sea
68. Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria): 3-time Olympian and Member, FINA Athletic Commission and FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee
69. Peter Bales (South Africa): Organiser, Observer, and Co-founder and Chairman, Cape Long Distance Swimming Association
70. Peter van Vooren (Belgium): Chairman, Channel Swimming Association and Board Member, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
71. Phil White (USA): Race Director and Founder, Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association
72. Philip Rush (New Zealand): World Record Holder in English Channel, National Team Coach and Coach/manager for Cook Strait crossings
73. Pierre Lafontaine (Canada): CEO and National Coach, Swimming Canada
74. Radek Taborsky (Czech Republic): Coach and Administrator, Czech Republic Swimming Federation
75. Rafael Gutiérrez Mesa (Spain): President, Asociación de Cruce A Nado Del Estrecho De Gibraltar (Strait of Gibraltar Swimming Association)
76. Ram Barkai (South Africa): Extreme Swimmer, Race Director and Founder, International Ice Swimming Association
77. Richard Broer (Netherlands): Board Director, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Coach and Manager, European Open Water Swimming website
78. Richard Shoulberg (USA): Coach and Safety Advocate
79. Rob Dumouchel (USA): Swimmer, Documentarist and Blogger
80. Rob Kent (Canada): Founder of the L.O.S.T. Lake Ontario Swim Team
81. Ronnie Wong Man Chiu (Hong Kong): Honorary Secretary, Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association and Chairman, FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee
82. Salvatore Cimmino (Italy): Amputee Swimmer and Advocate for the Physically Disabled
83. Santosh Raut (India): Chairman, Long Distance Swimming Association of India
84. Scott Rice (New Zealand): Founder and President, Quantum Events that organizes the 6-race New Zealand Ocean Swim Series
85. Scott Zornig (USA): President, Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association
86. Simon Griffiths (England): Publisher, Founder and Editor, H2Open Magazine
87. Simon Murie (England): Founder and Head Coach, SwimTrek
88. Stephane Lecat (France): Board member, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
89. Stephen Millar (Ireland): Race Organiser and Chairman, Irish Long Distance Swimming Association
90. Stephen Redmond (Ireland): Marathon Swimmer
91. Terry Laughlin (USA): Coach and Founder, Total Immersion
92. Thomas Lurz (Germany): Bronze Medalist and Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km gold medal favorite
93. Tim Moxey (England): CEO of blueseventy and Creator of nuun
94. Vicko Šoljan (Croatia): Founder, Croatian Long Distance Swimming Federation and Race Director, Faros Maratón
95. Vito Bialla (USA): Founder, Farallon Islands Swimming Federation, Escort Pilot and Swimmer
96. Vojislav Mijic (Serbia): Race Director, Sabac Swim Marathon
97. Wayne Riddin (South Africa): Race Director, aQuellé Midmar Mile, the world’s largest race
98. William Shultz (Alaska): Founder and Race Director, Pennock Island Challenge
99. Yutaka Shinozaki (Japan): Founder, Japan International Open Water Swimming Association
100. Zacharias Alexandrakis (Greece): Coach, head of lifeguards and creator of Marathon Swimming Greece website
101. Zouheir El Moufti (Morocco): Secretary General, Royal Moroccan Federation of Swimming and FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee member

NOTE: The women’s list of 101 Movers and Shakers in the Open Water Swimming World is here.