Melinda Menzer’s Marathon Swim Story

Lately I’ve spent some time with my kids looking at a globe, “if you fly over it, can you see the border?” they ask. No. These are lines drawn by man. Man argues, wars, and discriminates over lines, I tell them.

As today’s guest, Melinda Menzer says, “you can’t fence in the water”, and she loves swimming across those silly lines that are drawn on maps. To demonstrate the fluidity of borders, Melinda swam from the US to Mexico and back last year, in the process raising over $10,000 for HIAS, the world’s oldest refugee agency.

I loved hearing Melinda’s story for so many reasons, I hope you do too. Please enjoy this episode!

In her own words:

Melinda Menzer is a long-distance open water swimmer and the swimmer behind Swim for HIAS, a project to raise money and awareness for HIAS, the world’s oldest refugee agency. Melinda began swimming as a child but picked up open water swimming as an adult in 2011. She has swum some of the major American events, including Swim the Suck and SCAR. A few years ago, she decided to put her love for swimming to work for her commitment to the United States’ historic role as a sanctuary for refugees and asylum seekers. In November 2019, she swam 10.2 miles across Amistad Reservoir on the Texas/Mexico border, crossing from the U.S. to Mexico and back; she raised over $10,000 for HIAS while making real the idea that borders are fluid. She is inspired by other great swimmers such as Lynne Cox and Yusra Mardini, who have swum across borders to bring people together in freedom.