Frangieh and Obenour participate in Alcatraz swim

The overcast gray clouds hung in the air Sept. 10 as hundreds of swimmers cut their way through the rolling Bay waves. Among the swimmers were math teacher Kelly Frangieh and health teacher Amy Obenour.

Frangieh and Obenour participated in the Alcatraz Invitational. The event was sponsored by the South End Rowing Club. Participants swam from Alcatraz Island to shore, a distance of 1.25 miles.

Neither teacher aimed to get a fast time — they just wanted to complete the race in the Female Suits category. Frangieh finished in 32nd place out of 137 with a time of 44 minutes; Obenour finished 25 minutes later.

While this was Obenour’s second time participating in the event, it was a first experience for Frangieh. Frangieh was inspired to join Obenour after seeing pictures on Facebook of Obenour’s first Invitational.

Frangieh has been swimming competitively from the age of 5, while Obenour has done open-water and open-ocean swims for several years. Both trained separately throughout the year. Frangieh trained at the Los Gatos Swim and Racquet Club, and then in open water when she traveled to Greece for three weeks, while Obenour trained in the SHS pool.

Obenour said that she did not train as much for this event as she did for her first time in 2014 when she swam the race with art teacher Diana Vanry.

While Obenour said that this will be her last time participating in the gruelling race, Frangieh thinks she would swim the race again.

“I would try to get my husband to go with me. I would like to live it through someone else’s eyes,” Frangieh said.