Each summer, New England plays host to a bevy of beautiful open water swimming events. And a growing number of them are organized by the Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association, an all-volunteer non-profit organization based in Waltham, Massachusetts.
New England Masters member and certified USMS Level 2 Coach and USMS Adult Learn-to-Swim Instructor Mina Elnaccash has been an integral force in the group’s expansion over the past several years. Her efforts began in 2017 when she agreed to handle boat matching for the annual Boston Light Swim. That thankless undertaking requires attention to detail, superlative project management skills, and endless patience to recruit local boaters and pair them with anxious swimmers preparing to tackle the swim of their lives.
Elnaccash, who was a pool swimmer until 2008 when she first took the open water plunge at the Wild Fish 1-mile swim in Salem, capably managed the boat matching process for several years. In 2021, she was promoted to Race Director of the oldest open water event still staged in America. She also assumed the Secretary role on the MOWSA board, and her leadership has helped the organization grow in new directions by adding several events that provide an on-ramp for new open water swimmers looking to go longer.
Her focus on MOWSA’s mission to provide more safe open water swimming opportunities in Massachusetts, regardless of economic status and physical ability, has been inspiring to the rest of the team and galvanized their commitment to the cause. And, her focus on participant satisfaction has raised the bar in all of MOWSA’s events; the MOWSA swag game is strong these days, thanks to Elnaccash.
An avid open water swimmer herself, Elnaccash has participated in numerous open water swims including:
The 2011 Kingdom Swim in Lake Memphremagog, Vermont (6 miles)
The length of Lake Willoughby in 2013 (5 miles)
The 2016 Kingdom Swim, a USMS National Championship event (10 miles)
Three stages of the 2018 SCAR Swim Challenge in Arizona (Saguaro Lake, 13.3 kilometers; Canyon Lake, 14.1 kilometers; Roosevelt Lake 10 kilometers)
The 2018 Swim the Suck 10K race in the Tennessee River in Chattanooga
A software product manager in educational technology by day, Elnaccash is working on her swimming "comeback" after a shoulder injury. She daydreams about her next marathon open water DNFs (somehow her favorite swims!) and wonders if "comeback" is really the right word after never being away from the water – just having experienced more swims from the boat. For many swimmers in New England and beyond, Elnaccash’s dedicated dry-side volunteerism and passion for providing opportunities to others has made their open water dreams come true.