Its with great pleasure that the Barbados Open Water Festival announces that Jaimie Monahan, renowned ultra-marathon and ice swimmer will attend the 8th Festival in November 2019. The New Yorker is globally known as a Queen of Cold Water swimming but can't wait to get a swim in the warmer waters of Barbados: "I keep looking at photos of the water there and am getting way too excited - its still 5 months away!"
Jaimie’s endless list of outstanding achievements includes: first to accomplish the Ice Sevens, numerous marathon swims including a 92K double Manhattan island swim, six marathon swims on six continents in sixteen days, winner of the inaugural International Winter Swimming Association’s World Cup and seven time US National Winter Swimming champ. Jaimie, who has attended at least seventy-five major events over the past fifteen years is known for “pioneering new swim routes” and “setting course records in some of the world’s most beautiful and iconic locations”.
Jaimie’s endless list of outstanding achievements includes: first to accomplish the Ice Sevens, numerous marathon swims including a 92K double Manhattan island swim, six marathon swims on six continents in sixteen days, winner of the inaugural International Winter Swimming Association’s World Cup and seven time US National Winter Swimming champ. Jaimie, who has attended at least seventy-five major events over the past fifteen years is known for “pioneering new swim routes” and “setting course records in some of the world’s most beautiful and iconic locations”.
This seasoned marathon swimmer learned about the sport of winter swimming five years ago and was intrigued. From the frozen lakes of Siberia to the Perito Moreno Glacier of Argentina to Antarctica, Norway and Iceland, Jaimie has dived in and braved extreme water temperatures. Ice swimming only became an organized sport in 2009, when Ram Barkai, a world record holder in ice swimming, founded the International Ice Swimming Association. Today, this extreme adventure sport has a small but passionate following and is growing in popularity. Jaimie trains outdoors all year! Her apparel when ice swimming? A textile swimsuit, silicone cap, ear plugs and goggles! Unbelievable!
Incredibly this Wonder Woman of the Open Water World, who is well-liked and highly admired by all her peers, boasts an equally impressive resume in her professional life. The Cornell University graduate, who speaks three languages, has held positions at Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and for the past eleven years, Deloitte Consulting.
2019 Festival swimmers will undoubtedly be elated to learn they will have two swim superstars in the mix in Barbados with Jaimie, our first female guest swimmer signed up and Cameron Bellamy of SwimAroundBarbados and Oceans Seven fame expected to return.
"We look forward to welcoming you, Jaimie and all of our swimmers, both first-timers and returning regulars. We can promise superb swimming and heart-warming camaraderie in a fun festive atmosphere but... we definitely can't promise any extreme water temperatures or icy landscapes!"
"We look forward to welcoming you, Jaimie and all of our swimmers, both first-timers and returning regulars. We can promise superb swimming and heart-warming camaraderie in a fun festive atmosphere but... we definitely can't promise any extreme water temperatures or icy landscapes!"
Read a recent article about Jaimie here.
Enter the Barbados Open Water Festival 2019 here: ENTER
Images courtesy of Jaimie Monahan
Enter the Barbados Open Water Festival 2019 here: ENTER
Images courtesy of Jaimie Monahan
