Jaimie Monahan

Jaimie Monahan is a world record holding ultramarathon and ice swimmer from New York City who has enjoyed open water swimming on all seven continents.

On September 20, 2020, Jaimie became the first person to successfully complete a continuous four loop swim around Manhattan Island in 45 hours and 24 minutes for a distance of 114 miles (183K). Jaimie has completed the 28.5 mile Manhattan circumnavigation swim a record setting 27 times, and is now the third person to complete a continuous three loop swim around Manhattan Island. Her other Manhattan cirumnavigation swims include a record setting seven loops in seven days, and the fastest time for a double Manhattan swim.

Jaimie reflects: “For marathon swims we give the people with the most completed swims of the route, the title of “King” or “Queen” of Manhattan Island. The original “Queen” of Manhattan is Julie Ridge, an delightful lady who was a Broadway actress in the 80’s in “Oh Calcutta” who did 12 circumnavigation swims and was the first person to do a double Manhattan swim.  She is amazing – a native New Yorker who is now a mom, social worker and head of a nonprofit educating mental health providers – so important in these times! Here is a clip of her on Letterman after the swim, and she was also the inspiration of the classic Seinfeld bit about Kramer swimming in the East River. (!) (She went to school with the actor Jason Alexander.)”

Following are the records of successful multi-loop swims around Manhattan Island from Openwaterpedia:

1983 double success – Julie Ridge (USA) 21 hours 2 seconds
1984 double/triple success – Stacy Chanin (USA) in 33 hours 30 minutes
2007 double success – Marcos Diaz (Dominican Republic) (wetsuit + dryland break) in 22 hours 14 minutes
2007 double/triple success – Skip Storch of the USA in 20 hours 56 minutes (double) and 32 hours 52 minutes (triple)
2016 double success – Pieter Christian Jongeneel Anderica (Spain) in 20 hours 15 minutes
2017 double success – Jaimie Monahan (USA) in 20 hours 12 minutes 6 seconds
2017 double success – Courtney Moates Paulk (USA) 20 hours 15 minutes 55 seconds
2017 double success – Michele Walters (USA) 20 hours 16 minutes 40 seconds
2017 double success – Gilles Chalandon (USA) 20 hours 37 minutes 3 seconds

Jaimie is a 2018 Inductee of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and was voted the World Open Water Swimming Association‘s Woman of the Year for two consecutive years.  She has completed non-stop, unassisted swims up to 57 miles (92 km) in distance and more than 32 hours in duration, pioneering new swim routes and setting course records in some of the world’s most beautiful and iconic locations.

Jaimie is also a prolific cold-water swimmer, representing the United States in over 30 countries as a seven-time US national champion in winter swimming and the inaugural winner of the International Winter Swimming Association’s World Cup.  She is a 2019 Inductee of the International Ice Swimming Hall of Fame, a two-time age group world champion in Ice Swimming and the world’s first female “Ice Zero” swimmer under the IISA. She is the first person in history to complete an ice mile on all Seven Continents and well as the “Ice Sevens Challenge” under the auspices of the International Ice Swimming Association.