At the age of 73, Robert Strauss has accomplished a lot in the swimming world – from coaching athletes and teaching children to writing books and organizing events.
Professor Strauss is a long-time Swim Miami organizer, the author of Discover Swimming (Descubre la Natación in Spanish), established Swim Gym Swim School in 1984 in Miami where he has taught swimming to many as 1,000 children per week during his summer camps.
Strauss knows swimming whether it is for young ones in a warm-water pool or out in the open water. The former long-time race director of Swim Miami has long taught people of all ages and abilities to become swim safe. Strauss passed his aquatic genes to his son Jonathan Strauss who has organized the event for many years.
Since 1979, Strauss has lectured and taught swimming in all its forms not only through south Florida, but also México, throughout South and Central America, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China and Iceland as a fluent speaker in English, Spanish, Portuguese and German.
He was awarded with the 2018 Virginia Hunt Newman International Award at the International Swimming Hall of Fame and competed in the 1971 Pan American Games and the 1972 Munich Olympic Games for Mexico.
But at his core, he is an athlete who loves competition.
This weekend, the South Florida stalwart will race in the 10 km race at the Miami Marine Stadium in Key Biscayne, Florida at the 21st annual Swim Miami event. Thousands of athletes will compete in the Corporate 800m Swim, The Miami Mile, 5 km Swim, 10 km Swim [see starter list below], and the K9-Krawl World Championships. The K9-Krawl race is a unique human/dog duathlon that starts with a 400-yard run, followed by a 200-yard swim with your favorite canine.
Swim Miami 10 km Race
Defending champions 24-year-old Army Pal and 42-year-old Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist are both returning and remain the race favorites, but Pal and recent Oceanman Miami 10 km winner Maximiliano Paccot should have a great competitive race.
For more information and to register for Swim Miami, visit swimmiami.net.
10 km Female Starters
- Kari Andreasen, 50
- Wendy Peterson, 52
- Erin Laberee, 48
- Kimberly Hillinger, 30
- Lynette Estrada, 55
- Stacia Grayson, 43
- Melissa Jacobsen, 44
- Sissy Rytting 58
- Sofia Jimenez, 25
- Jennifer Stringer, 50
- Lauren Frederik, 41
- Lucy Lock, 63
- Hilda Lopez, 42
- Melodee Liegl, 59
- Summer Snyder, 29
- Laura Nuudi, 45
- Eirian Smith, 27
- Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist, 42
- Avery Morrison, 22
- Laura Glatts, 48
- Leslie LeDonne, 50
- Alice Saunders, 29
- Sara Trohaugh, 45
- Ingrid Polk, 56
- Meg deGuzman, 55
- Mariana Godoy Goette, 42
- Elizabeth Jolin, 56
- Sofia Figueredo, 16
- Regan Billingsley, 49
- Yahsyra Dazza, 31
- Maria Tupayachi, 46
- Sharon Good, 54
- Sarah Fishman, 32
- Sativa Turner, 46
- Francesca Esteban, 22
- Milena Esteban, 21
- Camila Valencia, 32
- Roxana Castellari, 61
- Christine Coppola, 48
10 km Male Starters
- Thomas Culliton, 39
- Remy Hutheesing, 27
- Jack Hillinger, 32
- Joseph Lekach, 39
- Roberto Cohen, 45
- Pere Coll, 52
- Ricardo Valdivia, 61
- Matt Troy, 63
- Claudio Geleroff, 64
- Christopher Stephens, 57
- Konstantinos Vazeos, 25
- Steve Gruenwald, 64
- Sean Stringer, 50
- Mark Hammes, 28
- Valentin Hobma, 18
- Adrian Zeh, 39
- Matteo Bertoni, 50
- Sergio Salazar, 38
- Juan Pablo Perez, 60
- Juan Pablo Fallas Gonzalez, 47
- Andrew Hutchinson, 63
- Barak Benaryeh, 57
- Kevin Scott, 55
- Matthew Van Marter, 64
- Victor Mestre, 58
- Kirk Paskal, 59
- Jeremy Grosvenor, 56
- Carlos Caruncho, 52
- Luis Bracamonte, 47
- Christopher Allshouse, 55
- Nick Leischow, 28
- Alexander Munk, 39
- Thomas Krasner, 64
- James Vance, 63
- Tom Cassidy, 55
- Felipe Costa, 37
- Pete Pontzer, 61
- Francisco Mere, 39
- Mark Monticino, 62
- Manuel Baldacci, 25
- Juan Ml Gonzalez, 54
- Edwin Gulko, 44
- Raymond Mooney, 57
- Robert Makatura, 63
- Bryan Erdmann, 54
- Alex Flores, 39
- Todd Polk, 48
- Daniel Messinger, 61
- Nathan Slack, 24
- John Cowan, 39
- William Curcio, 53
- Erik Bell, 51
- Antonio Soberanis, 34
- Robert Laseter, 64
- Jeison Rojas, 22
- Simon Bound, 63
- Dominic Boon, 50
- Maximiliano Paccot, 29
- Dilanka Bandisaththamge, 26
- Army Pal, 24
- Robert Strauss, 73
- Roger Ermuth, 54
- Michael Londono, 34
- Chip Green, 65
2025 Swim Miami 10 km Race Results
- Army Pal 2:12:15
- Dilanka Bandisaththamnge 2:12:15
- Daniel Gonzalez Jimenez 2:26:28
- Michael Dieckmann 2:30:22
- Harold Morgan 2:32:30
- William Leonard 2:39:48
- Alan Svensen 2:40:44
- Kevin Scott 2:45:06
- Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist 2:46:14 – first female
- Mark Hammes 2:47:43
- Maykel Hidalgo Alvarez 2:50:36
- Laura Nuudi 2:50:51 – second female
- Maria Tupayachi 2:54:32 – third female
- Thomas Culliton 2:54:36
- Victor Mestre 2:55:29
- Amelie Bicerne 2:56:37 – fourth female
- Reva Parab 2:58:34 – fifth female
- Marissa Mcauliffe 2:59:45 – sixth female
- Roxana Castellari – 3:05:52 – seventh female
- James Macpherson 3:07:02
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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