Berkeley teen marks another feat, becoming one of the youngest to finish 28.5 mile swim around Manhattan
15-year-old Maya Merhige, of Berkeley, completed the 20 Bridges swim event around Manhattan Island on Sunday, July 16, 2023. (Credit: Liz Tung for Swim Across America)
NEW YORK - A Berkeley teen has done it again-- making her mark as a world-class long distance open-water swimmer, by completing a grueling 28.5 mile swim around Manhattan Island over the weekend, all while raising money for cancer research.
In the predawn morning on Sunday, 15-year-old Maya Merhige finished the New York Open Water’s (NYOW) marathon 20 Bridges swim, in a remarkable 8 hours and 43 minutes time.
Berkeley teen swimmer Maya Merhige, 15, (seen by her green beacon in the water) nearing the finish line of the 28.5 miles 20 Bridges swim event around Manhattan Island on Sunday, July 16, 2023. (Credit: Liz Tung for Swim Across America)
The swim, which traversed the three rivers: the Hudson, the East, and the Harlem, has long been considered one of most challenging open water courses in the world.
Merhige’s accomplishment placed her in the books as one of the youngest swimmers to complete the course, as she’s now only the third 15-year-old ever to successfully finish the 20 Bridges event. (The youngest, Cody Brammer, was 12 when he broke the record in 1988. The youngest female to swim the event was Ida Elionsky in 1916 at the age of 13, according to NYOW).
Merhige has been no stranger to making waves in the swimming world, doing what some would consider the unimaginable.
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In January, she broke a world record, as she became the youngest person to successfully swim the Kaiwi Molokai Channel, a 28-mile journey between the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai and Oahu. And she did so in an impressive 27 hrs and 33 minutes.
Maya Merhige, 15, broke a world record, as she became the youngest person to successfully swim the Kaiwi Molokai Channel, a 28-mile journey between the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai and Oahu in January 2023.
Her list of record-marking feats in open water swimming also included becoming the youngest female to swim the 12-mile width (in 2020), 10.8-mile Vikingsholm (in 2021), and the 21-mile length (in 2022), courses of Lake Tahoe. She was only 14 by the time she completed all three, which earned her the Tahoe Triple Crown.
In 2021, she became the youngest female to complete the 21-mile Catalina Channel between Catalina Island and Los Angeles.
She's also broken records in the San Francisco Bay by becoming the youngest female to complete in the Three Rocks course in June 2021 and the Angel Island swim in October 2022.
While her passion for swimming was what got her in the water, there’s something bigger that continued to drive her. "I swim for each and every single person that has ever been touched by cancer. Whether it’s for a patient, a doctor, a family member, or a friend, I swim for them all."
And she said she’s among those who have been affected by the disease, sharing that she lost someone close to her.
"Although I swim for all of them, there is one specific friend whose spirit especially fuels me," she said. "Sam Hallward, a family friend of mine, passed away from brain cancer (DIPG) in December 2022 at the age of 12."
As part of her desire to make a difference, she has raised more than $60,000 through her swimming and partnership with Swim Across America. Her efforts have also included the annual local Swim Across America San Francisco open water swim, a course that takes athletes under the Golden Gate Bridge.
The event raises money for cancer research and patient care at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute and USCF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco Survivors of Childhood Cancer Program.
Merhige said she first began using her swimming skills to help cancer research eight years ago, to support another friend who was fighting cancer. She described that friend, Susan Helmrich, as "an amazing three-time cancer survivor."
And the teen's latest feat around Manhattan came after she had a health issue of her own earlier this year, when a computerized tomography (CT) scan revealed a large grapefruit sized tumor on her pancreas. The tumor was removed and tests showed it was benign, but the scare served to strengthen her resolve to swim for her cause.
"I’m one of the lucky ones," the teen said, adding, "This brief, but terrifying experience, gave me and my family a small taste of what others go through when confronted with a terrifying medical situation. It gave me even greater respect for what people with cancer experience, and made me even more committed to this effort."
With her completion of the 20 Bridges and her previous accomplishment swimming the Catalina Channel, she’s now closer than ever to conquer her quest to finish the famed Triple Crown of open swims. Her eyes will now be set on the final course of the three event series: the storied 21-mile English Channel, which she’s scheduled for next year.
And as she’s done before, she’ll put in the hard, grueling hours of training and then finally get in the water for the big event, all while carrying the thoughts and energy of those who have faced much greater.
"Open water swimming is a really challenging sport, and it reminds me every day that regardless of how challenging something might be for me, it’s nothing compared to what cancer patients face."
She’ll think about them all, but in particular, she'll remember her friend Sam. "He was one of the most outgoing and adventurous kids I knew," Merhige said, "and I just know that he would have loved to be in all of the awesome places that I get to go while swimming."
This story was reported from Oakland, Calif.
Berkeley teen swimmer Maya Merhige with her kayaker after completing the 20 Bridges swim event around Manhattan Island on Sunday, July 16, 2023. (Credit: Liz Tung for Swim Across America)
Berkeley teen swimmer Maya Merhige, 15, became one of the youngest swimmers to complete New York Open Water’s 20 Bridges swim event on Sunday, July 16, 2023. (Credit: Liz Tung for Swim Across America)
Berkeley teen swimmer Maya Merhige, 15, approaching the George Washington Bridge as part of New York Open Water’s 20 Bridges swim event on Sunday, July 16, 2023.