Name: Rondi Davies

Age:40

Citizenship: Australian/ United States

When I started swimming:

I have been swimming since I was a toddler, but I started swimming competitively at age 7. I grew up in the tropics (Papua New Guinea). Swimming was a way of life.

Major pool events:

I moved to Australia when I was 11 and took up more serious competitive swimming. My team was called Burley Griffin Swimming Club. I competed at a national level until age 16. My major pool events were the 400, 800 and 1500 m freestyle where I would make the finals of open nationals. As a 15 year old (1985), my best times were:

400 m freestyle: 4:30.01

800 m freestyle: 9:08

1500 m freestyle: 17:13

I quit competitive swimming at age 16; Australia doesn’t support College swimming. I returned to the sport in my early 20s for fitness. During my 20’s (College years) I competed in open water swims along Sydney’s beaches. These are only 1 to 2 miles. I was competitive in my placing, often winning my age group and sometimes winning out right.

Competing Today:

Swimming: I no longer compete in the pool and only in the open water. I moved to NYC in 2002 and started doing the NYCSWIM events in 2005. These are my main source of swimming competition and I generally have placed in the top 3 in every event I have participated in (http://www.nycswim.org/UserBio.aspx?UserID=101276). In 2008 I was third overall in the Manhattan Island Marathon swim.

In addition, in 2009 and 2010 I won the 10 mile Kingdom Swim in Lake Memphremagog, Vermont and in 2010 I won the 15.5 mile St. Vincent’s Swim Across Long Island Sound, from New York to Connecticut

Running: I took up running when I moved to NYC. I won a spot on the NYC marathon lottery in 2002 and was hooked. Year round I compete in the local New York Road Runners races that range from 4 miles to marathons. I have run six marathons and for most of them I have placed in the top 50 women finishers (except for Boston when I was in the top 100 finishers). My best marathon time is 2:57 in the 2007 Chicago Marathon.

In 2007, I was NYRR Runner of the Year for the 30-39 age group, and in 2009 I was again nominated for runner of the year. In 2010 I was the fourth fastest woman in the Empire State Building Run Up.

Training:

I mostly train on my own in the West Side YMCA pool. For open water training I swim at Brighton Beach (near Coney Island) with the CIBBOWs group (http://www.cibbows.org/). In 2010 I also trained in the Hudson River about 60 miles north of NYC with friends that live in the Hudson River Valley.

When training for a marathon swim my mileage in the water ranges between 40 and 75 km per week. My running mileage ranges from 10 to 75 miles per week.

Familiar Influence:

Swimming has always been a way of life. I grew up in the tropics (Papua New Guinea) where all activities were centered around water. My three siblings and I swam competitively from a young age.

Key Motivators:

I am constantly motivated by the feats of marathon swimmers in the community that challenge themselves physically and mentally against the elements – cold water, rough seas, strong currents, wildlife. This is one of the most challenging sports I have encountered; it keeps a person humble and always has lessons to teach.

What attracts me to this swim:

As a NYC resident this swim is very special to me. Although in the immediate vicinity of an urban metropolis, the waters around Manhattan are an extreme contrast of natural elements; they are vast and have subtle, dynamic and complex currents that are controlled by a confluence of different water bodies working to their own tidal rhythms. Swimming in Manhattan’s rivers and waterways is a unique perspective from which to experience the City.

The swim is timed to utilize a rare alignment of fast currents, so it promises to be an exciting and fast ride. Boat traffic such as barges and commuter ferries and darkness (the final hours of the swim will be at night) add to the challenge.

Finally I am proud to be included in a field of iconic professionals and elite amateurs to chase a record set many years ago by a famous Australian swimmer Shelley Taylor Smith. Shelley was a household name when I was growing up in Australia.

The swim also connects me with a community of people (NYCSWIM) who are supportive of the race and the health of NYC’s waterways either as swimmers, kayakers, officials, volunteers or spectators.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones