Photos of Jaimie Monahan courtesy of Arik Thormahlen.
Jaimie Monahan is off again as she heads to compete in the opening winter swimming event of the 2016-2017 season at the International Winter Swimming Association 8th Jelgavas Roni Cup in Jelgava, Latvia.
If Monahan’s upcoming swim season will be anything like her 2016 season, she is about to continue her global tour where she touches nearly every niche in the open water swimming space.
Arik Thormahlen has crewed for Monahan on her marathon swims. “From frozen rivers to long lakes, she has accomplished incredible swims in some of the most iconic waters around the world. An ambassador for winter swimming, Jaimie won the inaugural International Winter Swimming Association World Cup circuit, representing the United States at numerous events in Europe, Asia, and North and South America.
She is the current United States Winter Swimming Association national champion in the women’s 25m and 50m breaststroke and also completed an Ice Mile in Reykjavík, Iceland under the auspices of the International Ice Swimming Association. In addition to her cold water swim adventures, she is a prolific marathon swimmer who completed more than 180 miles during 2016 including three 30+ miles swims in 3 different countries in 33 days.”
Her prolific Barraesque 2016 season included the following swims:
• 4.6-mile (7.5 km) swim from Isla de la Luna to Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia on May 7th in 2 hours 23 minutes
• 18.6-mile (57.9 km) Stage 7: Liberty of 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim down the Hudson River in New York City on July 3rd in 6 hours 17 minutes
• 22.5-mile (30 km) circumnavigation swim of Absecon Island, New Jersey on July 11th in 13 hours 59 minutes
• 17-mile (27 km) swim around Lago d’Orta, Italy on July 23rd in 8 hours 38 minutes
• 32-mile (52 km) Lake George Marathon Swim on August 6th-7th in 21 hours 12 minutes
• 17-mile (27 km) Rose Pitonof Swim on August 13th in 5 hours 1 minute
• 42-mile (69 km) swim across Lake Geneva, Switzerland on August 31st to September 1st in 28 hours 36 minutes in an unprecedented crossing from Geneva to Villeneuve
• 31-mile (50 km) swim across Lake Como, Italy on September 7th-8th in 20 hours 29 minutes
• 28.5-mile (46 km) 20 Bridges Circumnavigation Swim of Manhattan on October 1st in 8 hours 13 minutes
Thormahlen explains how her tireless activities in the open water do not start and end at the water’s edge. “Outside the water, Jaimie serves as President of the Lake Geneva Swimming Association, works a demanding full-time job for a leading professional services firm, and is an avid supporter of the New York Public Library.”
She is among the nominees for the 2016 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year:
1. Victoria Mori (Argentina)
2. Rachele Bruni (Italy)
3. Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands)
4. Olga Kozydub (Russia)
5. Sally Minty-Gravett, M.B.E. (Jersey)
6. Chloë McCardel (Australia)
7. Pat Gallant-Charette (USA)
8. Elizabeth Fry (USA)
9. Cheryl Reinke (USA)
10. Sabrina Wiedmer (Switzerland)
11. Nuala Moore (Ireland)
12. Shelley Taylor-Smith (Australia)
13. Samantha Arévalo Salinas (Ecuador)
14. Jaimie Monahan (USA)
To vote in the WOWSA Awards, visit here. Online voting continues until December 31st 2016.
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