Suzanne Heim-Bowen's Marathon Swim Story
01/10/21 • 62 min
Today's guest has been marathon swimming for the last 4 decades! I was fortunate to run into Suzanne Heim during one of my online events. Can you believe that she jumped on What is marathon swimming q&a call - just to connect? It was fun to collaborate and point aspiring marathon swimmers in the right direction. As you can imagine, she has more than a few stories to tell, this is just an overview!
In her own words: As a youngster I swam summer league and competed in AAU competitions. At 14, I quit swimming to play boys water polo and run cross country. I helped start the Women’s Swim Team at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California. Fearful of the ocean due to a near drowning accident at age 5, I never stepped foot in the ocean until I was 18 years old.
Many swimmers spend their youth focusing on pool swims and later turn to open water swims. For me, it was the opposite. At 19, I joined the San Francisco Dolphin Swimming and Boating Club and completed solo marathon swims as well as racing 25k open water swims as part of the USA National Team. For the next 15 years many of the solo marathon swims were first person swims in San Francisco Bay and several set open water speed records. I then returned to USMS Pool swimming with the focus on pool racing setting World Records. One of the highlights of my pool swim career, since I still had college eligibility left, was being recruited by the Diablo Valley Community College coach as a distance swimmer at age 50! This was a lot of fun and resulted in a documentary titled, '50 Year Old Freshman'. I returned to marathon solo swimming in 2014 swimming around Manhattan Island—something I had always wanted to do. I was hooked and became inspired by my South End Rowing and Dolphin Club buddies who were training for incredible marathon swims--Michele Squyer, Cathy Harrington, Raine Pierce, just to name a few. Seeing them spend time in the water kept me motivated and in 2019 I completed a Round Trip Angel Island and Catalina swim and in 2020 the Length of Lake Tahoe.
However, swimming is not my number one passion! It is education of individuals with special needs. Throughout my youth I volunteered in high school to support my peers with special needs, was an assistant in a special education class and an educational therapist while working on my first Master’s degree. I received my teaching credentials and taught for 7 years before a year on scholarship at the University of Auckland . I returned from New Zealand and enrolled in another Master’s program and became a school psychologist/licensed educational psychologist for students with special needs, specifically: medically fragile, severe behavior disorder, intellectually delayed, autistic. Most recently I was working with youth who were incarcerated: significant mental health needs and post traumatic stress and trauma issues. Thankfully, no matter what was happening in my life, the water was always there to provide peace and whatever happened during the day I could turn off the ‘noise’ and focus on swimming and then return to my work with renewed energy. I continue to be dedicated to supporting youth with special needs even though ‘retired'. I participate on the Juvenile Justice Commission and am an Educational Surrogate/Advocate for youth. My two passions share a symbiotic relationship helping me to be successful in both areas.
If you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]
Music credit:
Epic Inspiration by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
Today's guest has been marathon swimming for the last 4 decades! I was fortunate to run into Suzanne Heim during one of my online events. Can you believe that she jumped on What is marathon swimming q&a call - just to connect? It was fun to collaborate and point aspiring marathon swimmers in the right direction. As you can imagine, she has more than a few stories to tell, this is just an overview!
In her own words: As a youngster I swam summer league and competed in AAU competitions. At 14, I quit swimming to play boys water polo and run cross country. I helped start the Women’s Swim Team at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California. Fearful of the ocean due to a near drowning accident at age 5, I never stepped foot in the ocean until I was 18 years old.
Many swimmers spend their youth focusing on pool swims and later turn to open water swims. For me, it was the opposite. At 19, I joined the San Francisco Dolphin Swimming and Boating Club and completed solo marathon swims as well as racing 25k open water swims as part of the USA National Team. For the next 15 years many of the solo marathon swims were first person swims in San Francisco Bay and several set open water speed records. I then returned to USMS Pool swimming with the focus on pool racing setting World Records. One of the highlights of my pool swim career, since I still had college eligibility left, was being recruited by the Diablo Valley Community College coach as a distance swimmer at age 50! This was a lot of fun and resulted in a documentary titled, '50 Year Old Freshman'. I returned to marathon solo swimming in 2014 swimming around Manhattan Island—something I had always wanted to do. I was hooked and became inspired by my South End Rowing and Dolphin Club buddies who were training for incredible marathon swims--Michele Squyer, Cathy Harrington, Raine Pierce, just to name a few. Seeing them spend time in the water kept me motivated and in 2019 I completed a Round Trip Angel Island and Catalina swim and in 2020 the Length of Lake Tahoe.
However, swimming is not my number one passion! It is education of individuals with special needs. Throughout my youth I volunteered in high school to support my peers with special needs, was an assistant in a special education class and an educational therapist while working on my first Master’s degree. I received my teaching credentials and taught for 7 years before a year on scholarship at the University of Auckland . I returned from New Zealand and enrolled in another Master’s program and became a school psychologist/licensed educational psychologist for students with special needs, specifically: medically fragile, severe behavior disorder, intellectually delayed, autistic. Most recently I was working with youth who were incarcerated: significant mental health needs and post traumatic stress and trauma issues. Thankfully, no matter what was happening in my life, the water was always there to provide peace and whatever happened during the day I could turn off the ‘noise’ and focus on swimming and then return to my work with renewed energy. I continue to be dedicated to supporting youth with special needs even though ‘retired'. I participate on the Juvenile Justice Commission and am an Educational Surrogate/Advocate for youth. My two passions share a symbiotic relationship helping me to be successful in both areas.
If you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]
Music credit:
Epic Inspiration by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
Previous Episode
Stuart Hacker's Marathon Swim Story
Have you heard of the Swim Cube? Located a few hours outside of London in Brixworth County Park, Swim Cube opened for swim coaching and analysis in 2018. Like myself, Head Coach Stuart Hacker advocates for taking the first step to improving your stroke by seeing yourself swim. It's easy to envision yourself swimming perfectly, but to actually make change, you need to connect the dots between what you think you're doing and what you're actually doing.
Even if there's not an Endless Pool near you, you can still get feedback on your stroke by taking footage of yourself swimming and sending it to me: [email protected]
But did you know that Stuart is also a marathon swimmer? After a couple of experiences crossing the Sea of Galilee, he competed the English Channel in 2018. He tells us all about it in this episode.
Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]
Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective
Music credit:
Epic Inspiration by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.
Next Episode
Phil White's Marathon Swim Organizing Story
Have you heard of Kingdom Swim? Imagine a blissful summer day in late July in the far reaches of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The weekend kicks off with a swimmer and pet parade and a pasta feed. There's a 1 mile swim. When you're ready you can go a little further out into the lake for a 3 miles swim, or check off your first marathon with a 6 mile swim! Jump up to 10 miles of open lake. Or bust the border to get 25 km under your belt. This is what Phil calls the ladder, it's where my marathon swim journey started...
Culminating with a search for a lake monster, as a swimmer scouting the length of the Lake Memphremagog for Memphre. Or perhaps the culmination is swimming across and back? There has been a few doubles!
In out interview today, my former neighbor on Sunset Acres, Phil White, tells how he got started by trying to save the local pool and in the process fell in love with open water swimmers.
In his own words: I was born in Poughkeepsie, NY on June 28, 1948
Education: 1966: HS, Phillips Academy Andover; 1974 BS Columbia University; 1978: JD Georgetown University Law Center.
In my younger days, I worked as a carpenter, a carriage driver in Central Park, a casino cashier in Athens, Greece, and as a Research Assistant at Columbia Geology Dept, UVM, Georgetown, and the Federal Judicial Center. In the 1980s I served as Orleans County State’s Attorney, and was a trial attorney for over three decades after that. I was married for 19 years and raised two kids. I was a youth soccer coach for many years.
I am a dedicated downhill skier, runner/jogger, boater, and water rat. During the 1980s I was an avid windsurfer. I’ve loved hiking and camping and playing softball and soccer. During the past 40 years, I’ve boated on Lake Memphremagog in all conditions, fair weather and foul, day and night, drunk and sober.
I started The Games in 2007 to help raise money for our local recreation center and pool that was in extreme financial distress. When the center closed in 2013, I started a small business, Kingdom Games, to organize, host and promote outdoor running, biking, swimming and ice skating events. We are based on Neuman’s Own, with any net profits dedicated to local charitable events.
Over the last decade, open water swimming in the Northeast Kingdom has blossomed. Here’s the chronology:
2009 Kingdom Swim
2010 Willoughby Swim
2011 In Search of Memphre
2012 Caspian Swim
2013 NEK Swim Week
2014 The Great Skate
2015 US Winter Swimming Championship
2016 Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival
2020 Saturday Clubhous Swim Series
In 2021 we will be hosting 25 days of open water swimming: Kingdom Swim (1), NEK Swim Week (8), In Search of Memphre (7), and the Saturday Clubhous Swim Series (9)
Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]
Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective
Music credit:
Epic Inspiration by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.
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