Katie Pumphrey, an artist and athlete who last year completed a historic swim from the Chesapeake Bay to the Inner Harbor, is planning to do it again.

Pumphrey, 37, said she pretty much decided to do the 24-mile swim a second time “immediately after finishing.”

“This is my sport, this is what I do. I love doing these swims, I’m usually doing a couple a season,“ Pumphrey said. ”This is now my home swim.”

Pumphrey made history last year when she swam from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Harborplace Amphitheater. It took her just under 14 hours in warm water and with a disadvantageous tide.

This time, Pumphrey is doing the swim earlier in the year, so the water should be cooler. And she’s going to start the swim even earlier in the morning to try to time the tides a bit better.

The window she and her team have set for the swim is between May 18-23, depending on conditions. Pumphrey is planning to enter the water around midnight. Last year, the swim began at 3:19 a.m. on June 25. The water was warmer than 80 degrees and the air temperature peaked in the 90s.

“I’m excited, personally, to do the swim again where the swim is more in my favor,” she said. “That was definitely the warmest I’ve ever been. I’m warm just thinking about it.”

Part of why she’s doing the swim a second time — in addition to being a marathon swimmer in love with her sport — is to bring attention to the health of the Inner Harbor and Chesapeake Bay, Pumphrey said. And, she wants to help establish marathon swimming more permanently in Baltimore.

Making the Inner Harbor swimmable has been a long-held goal for many in Baltimore, including the Waterfront Partnership. At this point, the harbor is considered safe to swim — but only in specific places and at certain times.

More than 150 people jumped in the harbor last summer (just a couple of days before Pumphrey’s swim) and the Waterfront Partnership is planning another swim day this summer.

Pumphrey is fundraising to support her swims this season. In addition to the Bay to Baltimore swim, she’s got plans to swim the English Channel (for a third time).

Part of the proceeds from her fundraiser will go toward establishing a nonprofit called Baltimore Open Water Swimmers (or BOWS), Pumphrey said.

She wants the nonprofit to be a governing body for the Bay to Baltimore Swim, and to host other open water swims and swim series, she said.

Her 2025 swim season will wrap up with the opening of an art exhibit in September at the Creative Alliance. Pumphrey, who attended MICA, is working on a solo exhibition called “Swimming Pool.” It will feature large-scale paintings, she said.

When it comes time to hop in the water near the Bay Bridge and swim north toward Baltimore, Pumphrey said her goal will be simple: Finish.

“As an open water swimmer, finish is the goal, regardless. But I would definitely love a faster swim,” she said. “My goal is to do the swim again and enjoy it.”