Karen Burton

Karen Burton (born June 11, 1962) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in long-distance freestyle and open water events. While competing in the 25-kilometer open-water event, she represented the United States at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Western Australia, and took a bronze medal in the 1991 World Aquatics Championships. In Open Water championships sponsored by USA Swimming, she placed first in six national open water swimming champion competitions, which included three 15 km (9.3-mile) races and one 25 km (15.5-mile) race.

Bronze, World Aquatics Championships As a highpoint of her career, she finished third in the 25-kilometer swim as part of the World Aquatics Championships on Swan River in Perth, Australia, on January 10, 1991, earning a bronze medal. Her time was 5 hours, 28 minutes, 22.4 seconds. Her teammate Martha Jahn took the Silver with a time only three minutes faster.

In the 1998 25-kilometer World Championships on January 11, 1998, in Perth, Australia, Burton finished tenth among the women competitors in a time of 5:56:40.

Pan-Pacifics, third In the Pan-Pacific 25-kilometer long distance championships in Sylvan Lake, Canada, in late August 1991, she finished third with the U.S. Team with a time of 6 hours, 6 minutes, 40 seconds.

Waikiki Roughwater win On her first attempt on September 7, 1992, she placed first among women competitors in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim on Oahu, Hawaii and was eighth overall. The 2.4 Mile Course stretching from Sans Sousi Beach to Duke Kahonamoku Beach in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, hosted a record 1,286 participants that year. At the age of 30, she finished 8th overall, in a non-record time of 55:57, despite a strong adverse current. In a close race, she edged the second-place women's finisher Shelly Taylor-Smith by a mere one second. Burton noted that "Shelly Taylor-Smith was ahead much of the race. I caught a wave coming into the beach finish and barely passed her".

English Channel, 1993 She crossed the English Channel in 9 hours 4 minutes in 1993. She retains an English Channel relay record with teammates Jay Wilkerson, Chad Hundeby, Martha Jahn, Dirk Bouma, and Sid Cassidy. She was coached by Penny Lee Dean and John York.

Catalina Channel record, 1994 She holds a record for women for crossing the Catalina Channel Santa Catalina Island to the mainland in 7 hours 43 minutes in 1994, which as of this publishing remains a top ten time. In an interview in 2020, she said she considered the swim one of her most notable accomplishments. She also completed a successful 32.3 km relay crossing of the channel in 9 hours 40 minutes as part of the Colorado Crew Relay team. The race was one of her earliest competitions, and she placed seventh in 7:23:51, in August 1992.

Life outside swimming In 1999, as an Honour Swimmer she was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.

She was a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy where she earned a bachelor's degree in Human Factor Engineering. Outside of competition, for four years she was the USA Swimming Open Water Swimming Coordinator, and while in Colorado, helped organize open water swimming competitions. She is the website manager for US Open Water Swimming.