July 23, 2015
Patricia Sener/Facebook
Sener's swim course map from Sandy Hook, N.J. to Atlantic Beach in Long Island
In an effort to make a statement about the importance of clean water, a Brooklyn woman decided to make an "unprecedented" swim from New Jersey to New York on Wednesday, NJ.com reports.
Patricia Sener, executive director of the Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers, swam 17 miles in the waters between New York and New Jersey, which are home to the largest density of marine mammals and sea turtles in the country.
Sener, 51, feels strongly about improving water quality for marine life.
"I feel like I'm in a position that I can do this long swim and try to also bring attention to why it's important to keep going in that direction," Sener told NJ.com before taking off from Sandy Hook for her longest swim yet. "This is an incredible resource we have. We should be in the forefront of protecting it."
To make her statement, Sener teamed up with Clean Ocean Action, a coalition of environmental groups pushing for the federal government to protect that area by declaring it a Clean Ocean Zone (COZ).
"Patricia is making a huge splash for the COZ," Cindy Zipf, Clean Ocean Action executive director, told NJ.com. "She has chartered a new and unprecedented course to raise awareness about the remarkable ocean we share between our shorelines."
Sener swam for 11 hours and 3 minutes before reaching the shore at Atlantic Beach on Long Island at 10:06 p.m. on Wednesday.
Read more from NJ.com.
