Vasanti Niemz
Vasanti Niemz (born 8 December 1956) is an open water swimmer and endurance athlete living in Heidelberg, Germany. A member of the International Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, she has been a vegetarian since 1981 who is a member of the Half Century Club.
Contents
Open Water Swimming Career
- Niemz is a member of the Half Century Club for:
- having swum the 33.5 km English Channel twice within 25 years and twice in a relay.
- having swum the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich nine times including five times over the age of 50.
- On 9 September 1985, she completed a 33.5 km crossing of the English Channel from England to France in 17 hours 1 minute at the age of 28.
- In 1996, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim in 9 hours 53 minutes 36 seconds.
- In 9 August 1998, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim in 9 hours 39 minutes 25 seconds at the age of 41.
- In 1999, she was part of the 6 person English Channel relay "Sri Chinmoy Oneness Peace Team" (time: 13 hours 20 minutes).
- On 4 August 2002, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in 10 hours 55 minutes 52 seconds at the age of 45.
- On 3 August 2003, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in 10 hours 59 minutes 6 seconds at the age of 46.
- On 5 August 2007, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in 11 hours 20 minutes 10 seconds at the age of 50.
- On 30 September 2009, she was part of the 4 person English Channel "Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team - World Harmony Run Relay" (time: 13 hours 21 minutes).
- On 8 August 2010, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in 9 hours 48 minutes 8 seconds at the age of 53.
- On 3 September 2010, she completed a 33.5 km crossing of the English Channel from England to France in 16 hours 50 minutes 58 seconds at the age of 53.
- On 9 October 2012, she completed the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 5 hours 25 minutes at the age of 55.
- On 26 July 2015, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in 10 hours 19 minutes 39 seconds at the age of 58.
- On 6 August 2017, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in 10 hours 25 minutes at the age of 60.
- On 5 August 2018, she completed the 26.4 km Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich in 11 hours 58 minutes at the age of 61.
- She finished 34th overall in the 50m freestyle race at the 2018 Ice Swimming Aqua Sphere German Open in Wöhrsee, Burghausen, Germany on 6 January 2018.
- She finished 6th overall in the 200m breaststroke race at the 2018 Ice Swimming Aqua Sphere German Open in Wöhrsee, Burghausen, Germany on 6 January 2018.
- Her first English Channel solo swim was from England to France in 1985 in 17 hours 1 minutes. Her second English Channel solo crossing from England to France in 2010 in 16 hours 50 minutes at age 53 was the first leg of a multi-day Channel-triathlon from Dover via Calais and Brussels to Aachen (300 km bike, 2 marathons running, some rest in between).
- On 9 October 2012, she swam the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa, Spain (Europe) to Marsa, Marocco (Africa) in 5 hours 25 minutes, as the oldest German woman (at 55) and 373rd swimmer solo without wetsuit. She is now ranked #35 on the Oceans Seven list.
Endurance Sports Career - Marathon, Ultramarathon, Ultra-Triathlon
Since 1982, Vasanti has completed over 20 marathons, including 7 New York City Marathons (personal best: 3:53,1989), many ultra-races including 6 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours (personal best: 148,455 km, Basel, 1999) and one multiday race, the Self-Transcendence 6 Day Race in N.Y. (2011, 342,79 km). She finished the Zurich Ironman in 1996, a 10x Olmypic distance ultra-triathlon at the Sri Chinmoy Triathlon Festival in Canberra,1998 (15 km swim, 400 km bike, 100 km run, first and only woman to finish it), two Triple Ultra Ironmen in Lensahn, Germany, 2000 and 2003 (3rd place women at the World Championship 2003 in 54 h 44 min), leading up to her English Channel triathlon Dover-Aachen in 2010. In 2013 she attempted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with an international Peace Run team, but had to stop at 5300 m due to breathing problems.
Peace Runner
Vasanti has been part of the "Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run" founded by Sri Chinmoy since 1987 (called "World Harmony Run" between 2001 and 2012) as a regional organizer and runner in Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Italy, Croatia, Japan, Vietnam, Tanzania, Indonesia, USA and other countries and carried the Peace Torch on her English Channel relay 2009, solo 2010, Gibraltar strait swim 2012 and to Mount Kilimanjaro in 2013 as a dedication of these events to peace and international friendship.
External Links
- The Towel and the Triple Crown Dinner
- Are You Tough? Really Really Tough? Check Out History's Tough Swimming Workouts
- Victorious Vegans And Vegetarians
- Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Half Century Club Members
- Sink, Save Or Swim: What To Do In A Shipwreck?
- Marathon Swimmers Federation bio
- Interview FAZ about Channel-Triathlon 2010
- Blog Channel-Triathlon Dover-Aachen 2010
- Gibraltar Straits Swim
- Channel-Swimming Database Dover.uk.com
- The Oldest Men and Women in the Sea
- Channel Swimming Association
- Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation
- Open Water Swimming
- Oldies But Goodies In The Open Water
- Oldest Men And Women In The Sea
- When The Egyptians Came Up Into The Swiss Alps
- Sri Chinmoy In The Open Water
- I Wanted To Swim With Dolphins
- Peacefully Running Along The Coast
- How Lynne Cox Impresses The World
- 2015 International Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim Start List
- International Self-Transcendence Marathon-Swim information
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Marathon Swimming
- World's Top 100 Open Water Swims
- International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame website
- A Short List of Marathon Swims
- Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team Switzerland
- Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim Rapperswil-Zurich
- Open Water Swimming
- Sink Or Swim. What Can You Do In A Shipwreck?
- DUV ultrarunning statistics
- Extremsport-Tag
- Triple triathlon results Lensahn
- Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run
- Peace Run Tanzania / Kilimanjaro
- Vasanti Niemz On Her Channel Swimming - interview video
- Peaks And Ponds - Dryland And Open Water Endurance
- John Zemaitis, Jo Yetman Go Bioprene Across Lake Zürich In International Self-Transcendence Marathon-Schwimmen
- Extending Oneself For A Better World
- Vedika Bolliger, Marathoner Extraordinaire
- Satisfaction Guaranteed
- The Day Heroes Crossed The Channel
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Open Water Swimming
- Marathon Swimming
- Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- The Win-Win Advantages Of Open Water Swimming
- Stars At The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim
- Abhejali Bernardova On Track Across The Molokai Channel
- Abhejali Bernardová Scores A 10 Across The North Channel
- 30th Sri Chinmoy Marathon Swim Lake Zürich
- Communication In The Channel
- Ice Swimming German Open 2018
- Abhejali Bernardová Becomes 10th Oceans Seven Swimmer
- Otto Thaning Gives It Another Shot
- Given Time, The Body Is An Amazing Instrument
