20 INDIVIDUAL SWIMMERS, 6 RELAY TEAMS TO COMPETE IN 15TH ANNUAL MANHATTAN ISLAND MARATHON SWIM AUGUST 3, 1996
Posted online: Wednesday, 26 June 1996
NEW YORK, N.Y., June 20, 1996 -- More than 60 top swimmers from the United States, Canada, England and Greece will compete in the 15th annual Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS) on Saturday, August 3, 1996. For the majority, it will be their first attempt at a marathon swim.
The group includes 21 individuals, including defending champion Gail Rice, 39, of Miami Shores, Florida, and 1992 and 1993 champion Kris Rutford, 36, from Lincoln, Nebraska. Six six-person relay teams will also compete.
States represented by the swimmers include California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah and Vermont.
The individual swimmers will begin the 28.5 mile course on the Hudson River side of Battery Park at 11 a.m., with the relay teams beginning shortly thereafter from the same location.
Hand-picked by the Manhattan Island Marathon Swimming Foundation (MIMSF), all entrants had to meet strict criteria in order to compete. According to MIMSF executive director and past participant Morty Berger, each swimmer has competed in other demanding races and has demonstrated the dedication and motivation to meet the challenge of marathon swimming.
The individual swimmers competing in the marathon are:
--Nick Adams, of London, England is a college student. He is only 19, but has already completed four swims across the English Channel, a 21 mile "sister" swim of the MIMS.
--Thomas Dolan, of Queens, NY, is 28 and a New York City firefighter. He has completed several open water swims and also holds seven varsity swimming records, including the 500 yard freestyle, at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y. Dolan has also run in three New York City marathons.
--Cheryl Elinsky, of Brattleboro, VT, is 33 and a physical therapist and rehabilitation coordinator. She has completed the Swim Around Key West, FL (12.5 miles) and is a veteran of numerous triathlon races.
--Dennis Dressel, of Wallingford, CT, is 45 and owner of an insurance agency. He has swum 10 miles across Long Island Sound and last year competed in the MIMS as a relay team member.
--Douglas Gallagher, of Manhasset, NY, is 20 and a student at the University of Virginia. His father, Drury Gallagher, is a founder of MIMS. A veteran of several open water swims, Douglas is dedicating this swim to his father and to his late older brother, who died in 1981.
--John Gatti, of Westfield, NJ, is 29 and a physical therapist. A former All-American, he has completed several open water swims, including the 11.2 mile Swim for the Environment in Indiana last year.
--Christopher Green, of Lancashire, England, is 46 and a retired surveyor. He is the most veteran of the MIMS swimmers, having competed in all 14 previous events. In 1985, he completed a marathon swim from Spain to Africa.
--Scott Haskins, of San Francisco, CA, is 32 and a commercial real estate asset manager. He has competed in long distance swims from California to Saratoga Springs, NY. Last year, he completed an 11.8 mile swim in Coronado, CA.
--Kyaw Tha Hla, of Manhattan, NY, is 35 and an artist and restaurateur. He completed the MIMS in 1990 and has also done the Candlewood Lake, CT swim (10.5 miles).
--Lawrence Hoffman, of Fairfield, CT, is 48 and an attorney. He completed the MIMS last year and has also completed the Candlewood Lake swim 11 times.
--Kenneth Indahl, of Manasquan, NJ, is 47 and a podiatric surgeon. He has participated in numerous swims off the New Jersey coast, including the Atlantic City swim (6.2 miles) and the Inlet to Inlet swim (6.1 miles).
--Benn Kramer, of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is 39 and a property manager. He has completed the MIMS 11 previous times.
--George Mathas, of Thessaloniki, Greece, is 34 and a teacher of disabled children. He has completed marathon swims in Greece, Switzerland, England and Yugoslavia.
--Robert McNulty, of Manhattan, NY, is 27 and in financial sales and trading. He participated in last year's Swim Across America and is a veteran of other open water swims.
--Randy Nutt, of Coral Gables, FL, is 37 and a financial consultant. He has completed the Swim Around Key West and four other open water swims off the coast of Florida.
--Gail Rice, of Miami Shores, FL, is 39 and a nurse practitioner. She won the MIMS last year with a time of 8 hours, one minute, three seconds (8:01:03). She has also completed the Swim Around Key West several times and won it once.
--Kris Rutford, of Lincoln, NE, is 36 and a certified public accountant. As stated, he won the MIMS in 1992 and 1993. He holds the men's record for the swim of 5 hours, 53 minutes, 57 seconds (5:53:57), which he accomplished in the 1992 swim.
--Jamie Tout, of Austin, TX, is 43 and a revenue agent with the IRS. He has completed five previous MIMS and has also successfully swum the English Channel.
--John Vanderslice, of Manasquan, NJ, is 32 and an environmental consultant. He has competed in more than 10 open water swims in New Jersey, including the Atlantic City swim (6.2 miles) and a 10-mile swim in Wall, NJ.
--Donald Walsh, of Spring Lake Heights, NJ, is 50 and a PC specialist. He completed his first MIMS last year. He has been competing in open water swims for over 15 years and has finished over 75 races.
--Andrew Warren, of Manhattan, NY, is 44 and owns a photography business. He has competed in several open water swims from Connecticut to Hawaii.
Relay teams include the following:
--The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center team includes captain Viki Altomonte, 46, who competed individually in the MIMS last year, Lynn Anderson, 20, Doug Frohock, 45, Thomas Horn, 39, Jack Iliff, 52, and Bill Liggett, 37.
--The Manhattan Plaza Team includes captain Carolyn Jaenisch, 37, who completed the MIMS individually in 1994, Mary beth Byrne, 36, Kathleen Hynes, 30, Cathy Kabat, 36, Eileen Burke, 33 and Martine Scannavino, 34.
--The On the 42nd Team includes captain Steve Putterman, 42, Steve Chestler, 40, Alan Fidler, 50, Tom Moroney, 47, Arnold Toren, 45 and Richard Wallace, 48.
--Team New York includes captain Tom Cahill, 44, Abigail Falk, 35, Steve Larkin, 26, Andy Schramm, 32, J. Alan Speer, 26 and Tim Whiteside, 43.
--Team New York Aquatics Rocks includes captain Rob Ripp, 34, James Bielaczyc, 37, Dake Gonzalez, 25, Peter Higgs, 51, Spencer Neyland, 31 and Mark Schaffer, 34.
--The West Side Y Masters includes captain Kenn Lowy, 39, who completed the MIMS individually last year, Douglas Fadel, 27, Vanessa Gibbons, 25, Janet Harris, 30, Melissa Mccarthy, 28 and Jennifer White 31.
--The seventh team includes captain Paul Lewandowski, 39, Rob DeStefano, 34, Dave Groeneveld, 32, Mike Llerondi, 33, Grey Thompson, 28 and Ira Wolf, 53.
The swimmers will take the traditional counter-clockwise route, proceeding up the East River with the incoming Tide, preserving their energy to face the treacherous currents of Hells Gate in upper Manhattan, then crossing the Harlem River to the long home stretch down the Hudson River.
Depending on conditions that day, swimmers should begin finishing at approximately 6 p.m. An awards ceremony will be held in Battery Park.
The MIMS is sponsored by MIMSF, in conjunction with Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and corporate sponsor D'Agostino Supermarkets. It is organized by MIMS, which each year makes a donation to help New York City neighborhoods establish and expand swimming programs for children and to rehabilitate swimming pools.
More information about MIMS, including its history, past results, media coverage and this year's race, can be found on the MIMS home page on the Internet. The address is http://www.nycswim.org |
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