Local lawyer Francine Alfandary is a fixture at local swim races and triathlons. A self-described "middle of the back of the pack" swimmer, her true athletic talent comes in organizing and cajoling. When she decided to participate in the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, she not only recruited five swimmers for her team, but got so many friends interested that they created three more six-person relay teams for the event. Two of those teams have even returned to participate again each year. NYC Swim was lucky enough to recruit her after that, and over the last three years she has served as volunteer coordinator and head of the MIMS application team, while also coming up with coherent race policies and instructions.

Despite her duties with NYC Swim, Francine still found time to dip in the Hudson each year for swims like MIMS and the Great Hudson River Swim. She won't be swimming any events this year, though, as she and her husband, Laurent Nahon — who followed his wife to the NYC Swim team as Director of Hospitality, and is the man you have to thank for the refreshments and parties before and after the races — are expecting twins in late July. If they're anything like their mother, you'll probably see the twins helping out at our races by the 2009 swim series.