User:Tzemlin/sandbox

Karen Zemlin is a 51-year-old American open water swimmer from Plymouth, Minnesota who completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming and is a member of the Hamline University Athletic Hall of Fame and Minnesota Masters Swimming Hall of Fame.

Karen Zemlin's swimming career began in a lake race near Alexandria, Minnesota as a teenager. Her dad, and longtime swim coach Roger Bosveld, told her she had an advantage in the race because she was not afraid of weeds. That attitude has translated into her marathon swimming career as she is not afraid of cold, distance, jellyfish, sea lions, dolphins, and all sorts of other crazy things marathon swimmers have to overcome.

Karen had an illustrious swimming career at Mounds View High School and Hamline University earning many honors. As a masters swimmer Karen holds numerous age group records in Minnesota and a number of national accolades. Karen also holds the course record for the Point to La Pointe Swim in Lake Superior. Karen loves swimming in open water and has swum numerous open water swims and races around the upper midwest since the 1980's. She often was first place overall in those open water races, beating the entire field of men and women. Marathon swimming is Karen's real passion and it shows.

Karen is a member of the Half Century Club for the English Channel and Catalina Channel Half Century Club.

Open Water Swimming Career Highlights

 * On 28 July 2012, she completed the 16.1 km Minnetonka Challenge in Minnesota in 3 hours 49 minutes 6 seconds at the age of 44. 2nd place overall, 1st place female
 * On 13 July 2013, she completed the 43.5 km END-WET from Grand Forks in North Dakota to Oslo, Minnesota in 6 hours 58 minutes at the age of 45. *Course record for the 43.5k course
 * On 14 June 2014, she completed the 45.9 km Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in New York in 7 hours 23 minutes 44 seconds at the age of 46. 3rd place overall
 * In August 2014 she completed the 32.2 km Apostle Island Relay Swim around Madeline Island Lake Superior in 8 hours 49 minutes at the age of 46 as a solo swim. 1st place overall
 * In August of 2015 she completed the 14 km Henley Marathon Swim Bridge to Bridge in the Thames in 3 hours 20 minutes 39 seconds, 1st place overall for non wetsuit
 * In September 2017 she completed the 16.1 km 16th Annual La Jolla Cove 10 Mile Relay in 3 hours 30 minutes and 12 seconds, solo swim, 1st place female
 * On 21 April 2017, she completed the 37 km Tampa Bay Marathon Swim in Florida 9 hours 55 minutes. 1st place overall, fastest woman 50+ years old.
 * On 19 September 2018, she completed a 32.3 km crossing of the Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 9 hours 44 minutes 31 seconds. Fastest female swim in 2018
 * In June 2019 she completed the 32.1 km Lake Mille Lacs from Isle, Minnesota to Garrison, Minnesota in 9 hours 55 minutes 20 seconds *course record, first documented swim of Lake Mille Lacs
 * On 24 August 2019, she completed a 33.5 km crossing of the English Channel from England to France in 10 hours 17 minutes, the fastest ever recorded by a woman over the age of 50 and the third fastest by anybody in that age bracket male or female, 3rd fastest time of 2019

Some fun facts about Karen:

 * She has earned the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, American Triple Crown, and Grand Slam of Open Water Swimming
 * She is the fastest woman age 50+ to swim the English Channel
 * Karen took 44,424 strokes to cross the English Channel
 * Her combined Triple Crown time is 27:24:44
 * She has the first documented swim of Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota
 * She still holds the 1000 freestyle record at Hamline University she set in 1989
 * Her time for MIMS is the second fastest time for a 45+ year old woman behind Penny Palfrey
 * At age 51 Karen's English Channel swim was the third fastest swim in 2019 behind Chloe McCardel and Tom Knight age 34 and 32 respectively
 * Her Henley swim was 4 days after her first English Channel attempt where she froze out after 12 hours less than a mile from the Cap.
 * Her first, unofficial, swim across Lake Mille Lacs was a training swim with her dad as he was training for an English Channel attempt
 * Karen was an NCAA All American in 1989
 * Karen has 60 individual USMS Top Ten swims
 * Karen is a 2 time USMS All American for long distance swimming, 4 time USMS All American in the pool
 * Karen swims with the Hopkins Master Club in Minnesota
 * Karen and her dad swam to Alcatraz and back as a training swim
 * At age 50, Karen's Catalina time was the fastest swim by a woman in 2018
 * At age 50, she won the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim 2018 its 20th anniversary
 * Karen is the fastest 50+ year old female to swim the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim
 * Karen is the 3rd fastest 50+ year old female to swim the Catalina Channel behind Penny Palfrey and Barbara Held
 * Karen has the 5th fastest time for the Minnetonka Challenge 10 mile course
 * Karen has the course record for the 43.5k END-WET course

Notable Quotes:

 * Catalina Swim Association observer: "She was all business. Got in, swam like a maniac, got out. And, just like that, all done!"
 * CS&PF Tweet: "Excellent swim and apparently a seal was waiting as you climbed on the rocks!"
 * Karen Zemlin on her second English Channel attempt: "I invited the cooperation of the English Channel."
 * On her Mille Lacs swim: "With so many fabulous lakes in Minnesota I think it would be great to get more recognized as marathon swimming opportunities."