Throughout New York City swimming history, women have demonstrated their endurance capabilities in the water – from Diana Nyad and Marcia Cleveland to Shelley Taylor-Smith and Penny Palfrey.
Liz Fry – the dynamo from Connecticut – is now one of the women in the pantheon of New York City greats.
Yesterday, Liz set three records in her double-crossing from Battery Park on Manhattan Island to Sandy Hook in New Jersey and from Sandy Hook back to Manhattan Island – and both ways.
Her solo swim from Manhattan Island to Sandy Hook, the traditional route of the 17.5-mile (28.1K) Ederle Swim, was a quick 4 hour 59 minute first leg. But she didn’t slow down much after her flip turn on the sandy shores of New Jersey. Her return leg to Manhattan was a very impressive 6 hours 6 minutes.
Besides her three English Channel swims, three Manhattan Island Marathon Swims, Catalina Channel Swim, her record-setting reverse Manhattan Island record and her admirable work as the Race Director for the annual Swim Across The Sound, her overall time of 11 hours 5 minutes now sets the bar for a two-way 35-mile swim between New York and New Jersey.
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