Tejeda Wins Little Red Lighthouse Swim

NEW YORK, August 29. AN early-morning thunderstorm and intermittent rainfall didn't dampen the spirits of a record field of swimmers for the Manhattan Island Foundation's Little Red Lighthouse Swim on Saturday, August 26. Kamel Tejeda, 18, from the Dominican Republic, took first place with a winning time of 1:27:02. He had previously won the MIF's Cove-to-Cove and Race for the River Swims in 2005. In the women's division, veteran open-water swimmer Rondi Davies, originally from Australia and currently residing in New York, took first place (second overall) with a time of 1:31:46.

"At the start, it (the river) was really calm," said Davies. "But at times the wind blew up, created chop and it was hard to keep rhythm. It was sporadic, then it would get calm again. It went really fast. I couldn't believe I was only swimming for an hour and a half (before finishing.)"

Second place in the men's division went to Alex Ovallles, 38, also from the Dominican Republic. He finished in 1:33:01 and Scott Gibson, 39, from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, finished in 1:40:22 for third. In the women's division, Rebecca Jackman of La Mesa, Calif., finished second with a time of 1:41:30 and Tobey-Anne Saracino of Rye, N.Y., was third with a time of 1:44:09.

Swimmers started with a 5.85-mile swim from Hudson River Park's Clinton Cove Park (Pier 96) at 56th Street and made their way up the Hudson River past the 79th Street Boat Basin, Grant's Tomb, and Riverbank State Park to a beach finish at Fort Washington Park at 165th Street, within view of the George Washington Bridge and Little Red Lighthouse. A record field of 179 swimmers represented eight states (California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania) as well as Brazil, the Dominican Republic, France, Ireland, Japan and Jamaica. Swimmers ranged in age from 13-75.

The Little Red Lighthouse Swim is organized and sponsored by the Manhattan Island Foundation, the authority on open-water swimming in New York. Proceeds from the swim benefit the Learn to Swim program and raise public awareness of the waters that surround New York by supporting efforts to clean and protect them.

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