Karen Mareb
USMS National Records – pool individual 1 lifetime
USMS Pool All American Honors – 13 years (20 individual)
USMS Top Ten Achievements – 167 Individual
I was born in Bangor ME and am the second of five children. I grew up spending winters in South Bend, Indiana, and summers in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where my Father did research at the Marine Biological Laboratory. I learned to swim in the ocean in Woods Hole and competed in the summer beach swim meets held at Mass Maritime. Although I swam all summer long recreationally, I did not join a swim team until 1973 at John Adams High School in South Bend. I fortunately made the varsity team my Freshman year with few skills and learned the breaststroke, as that was what was needed. John Adams Girls’ Swim Team won the State Title three years in a row from 1972 to 1974. I was part of the winning State 200 IM relay team in 1974.
I graduated high school in three years and was accepted at the University of Notre Dame. My freshman year was the first graduating year of women at ND and my first year I swam with the Boys’ team (poorly). I spent my sophomore year in Rome, Italy, studying Italian and art. On my return in my junior year, Notre Dame had a club team, but it was nowhere near the powerhouse status of today. During my college years, I worked as a Falmouth lifeguard and competed on the Falmouth lifeguard competition team as the swimming leg for various events. In 1979, I swam to Martha’s Vineyard from Woods Hole with a group of swimmers from MBL completing the swim from Nobska Point to West Chop (approximately 3.5 miles) in 1 hour and 51 minutes. I swam to the Vineyard again last summer (2022) 43 years later - albeit at a much slower pace!
After several years, I reconnected with my Falmouth lifeguard boyfriend, Fred, and we got married in 1984. I swam for a few years with the Andover YMCA team until I had my children and proceeded to take the next 15 years off. In 2003 at age 45, I returned to the pool and swam for 10 years with Andover YMCA Masters group, competing in local meets and Y Masters Nationals in Fort Lauderdale. I bettered all my high school times except for one. In 2014, I started swimming with the Granite State Penguins and have been a regular at all of the major meets including most SCY Nationals. I have also competed in FINA World Competitions in Riccione Italy (2012), Montreal (2014), Canadian National (2017), and Budapest (2018).
My interests include anything connected to the water, (boating, fishing, snorkeling) traveling, good food, and good books. My latest challenge is learning the game of golf.