Joni.

I don’t know how old Joni is because you never ask such things but this is the absolute literal definition of doing amazing things at any age. Joni is another human I’ve met over the last few years that shares our love for water.

I spent an afternoon with Joni at the Dolphin Club, which was established in 1877. The club itself needs a retrospective and time to photograph the history and its surroundings. Joni has been going to the club to swim the frigid bay waters since the early 1980s. An almost daily activity that most people her age would consider a qualification for someone in their 20s. She swam the English Channel, many annual Escapes from Alcatraz and a slew of others. Her name used to hang among the greats at the club ( until it was too sun-faded and had to be moved) and her portrait still adorns the inside walls of the Frank Stan Room, where we caught some nice afternoon light. Oh if only these walls could talk.

Joni, like many others in the neighborhood, is multilayered and this day was just a snapshot of her beautiful personality. One day I’ll get in the water as well.