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Mt. Lebanon woman swims around Manhattan

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New York City is a common summer destination, but when Judy Caves arrived there recently, it wasn’t to visit Times Square or the Empire State building. It was to swim around Manhattan.

Caves participated in the New York Open Waters’ elite swimmers 20 Bridges. In the event, swimmers go under 20 bridges and circumnavigate Manhattan.

Each year 60 swimmers are accepted for the 28.5 mile race, which takes place four times throughout the summer, with 15 athletes in each swim.

By Eleanor Bailey
Almanac Sports Editor
ebailey@thealmanac.net

By Eleanor Bailey/Almanac Sports Editor/ebailey@thealmanac.net

Judy Caves is a Mt. Lebanon resident and a guidance counselor at Seton LaSalle High School.

The Mt. Lebanon resident’s July 15 swim featured swimmers from across the world, from Gibraltar to Peru. Caves completed the race in eight hours and four minutes of continuous swimming.

Given that feat, one might picture a young Olympian. However, Caves is no Michael Phelps. The 58-year-old is a guidance counselor at Seton LaSalle High School.

Her start in swimming was inauspicious. Though she swam in high school and college at a Division 3 school, she admits she was not remarkable.

“I was not the best, not the fastest,” she recalled.

Caves, however, was tenacious. “I love a challenge,” she said.

A decade ago she began pursuing open water events of increasing difficulty. She completed a four-mile swim across the Chesapeake Bay and a 12.5-mile swim around Key West.

Once she set her sights on the 20 Bridges, she commenced training.

Caves would rise at 4:30 to swim an hour and a half before work, then in the evenings would cross train or swim another two hours. Her drive and hard work are infectious and they influences the way she approaches the students she counsels.

“I don’t ever really deem that I have athletic gifts,” she said. “What I’ve done has been through hard work.”

When students come to her office, she encourages them.

“If I can get up at 4:30 in the morning and go swimming, anything is possible,” she reasoned. “If you have a goal, put that goal out there and start pursuing it.”

She reminds students to break goals down and tackle them one step at a time.

Caves also emphasizes gratitude and faith. During her swim on Sunday she spent her time praying for others.

She also chose to focus on the things that were going well. Rather than dwell on the pain in her shoulder, she noticed that her goggles weren’t fogging up and the water was warm.

“You can choose what to pay attention to.”

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