Renowned open-water swimmer also Hawken graduate

Give Erica Rose `00 some open water, tell her to swim and she`ll go and go and go... and go. Since 1997 when she was a swimming powerhouse at Hawken, open-water swimming in rivers, lakes and oceans has been a passion that`s taken her to Argentina, Ecuador, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Australia, Panama, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Grand Cayman, Japan as well as across the country to California, New Jersey, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, South Carolina, Minnesota and Hawaii. It`s a passion that`s also won her a slew of gold medals and national and international titles. This winter Erica placed third in a F+â-¬d+â-¬ration Internationale de Natation (FINA) Panama River race, the longest race in the world, with a time of 9 hours, 30 minutes. Today, she is currently ranked third in the world in the FINA Grand Prix Series of marathon swimming races. FINA is the worldwide swimming sport organization. Erica, who lives in Chicago and is attending graduate school at Northwestern University, will continue her trans-global and cross-country swimming pursuits this summer and fall in FINA and USA National competitions in Italy, Macedonia, Canada, Mexico and Serbia and Florida, New Jersey and Illinois. To find out more about Erica and to stay up to date with her progress, visit her Web site at www.ericaroseswimming.com.