Facing 50 with joy and power

I celebrated my year of turning 50 with a year of training for two massive goals – a 32-mile marathon swim and a 10K swim with a 4-hour time limit. I did both in August 2017.

For my marathon swim, I needed to train for months – I swam 100 miles in July alone. I also needed a support crew and was able to gather 7 members of Team 32 to guide and support me during what turned into 28 hours and 6 minutes of continuous swimming. I had two boat pilots and five kayakers in a rotation. Nobody had been part of a marathon swim like this before. I’m the oldest woman to swim Lake George – and I plan to use what I learned to do it again.

Since my swim, I have met other fabulous women in open water and marathon swimming. We mainly communicate online, but it is so incredible to be part of the group. Someday, we will inspire everyone to wear diaper cream on special occasions!