Erica Rose

Erica Lara Rose (born July 6, 1982) was an American competition swimmer who specialized in long-distance and open water events. Rose was a 5 km World Aquatics champion in Perth, Australia at only fifteen in 1998, was a four-time Pan American swim marathon gold medalist, a Pan Pacific 3.1 mile champion in 1997 in Melbourne, Australia, and a ten-time National Open Water swim marathon champion at 5 km, 10 km, and 25 km distances between 1997 and 2007. She competed with Cleveland's Lake Erie Silver Dolphins, Hawken High School Swim Team, the Northwestern University Swim Team, and for twelve years with the USA Swimming National Team. Erica lettered in all four years in high school, from 1997- 2000. The Hawks won three state championships in her time at the Gates Mills campus of Hawken School Senior High School.

She won around ten Open Water Swim championships of various distances, and was a member of the USA Swimming National Team for twelve years. Erica finished fifth in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:39.92, but was out of medal contention.

First American Pan Pacific medal Around seventeen in August 1999, she gave America its first women's medal in the Pan Pacifics, with a time of 58:11, in the 3.1 mile open water swim in Melbourne, Australia. She led all the way in the women's section, and American Klete Keller won in the men's section.

Four Gold Pan American Championships She was a four-time gold medalist at the Pan American Swim Championships, according to her 2014 Cleveland Hall of Fame Bio. One of her Pan American Championships was a 5K win in Ecuador in the Spring of 2006, and one was a 5K win in Panama in 2004.

1998 World Aquatics Championship Again demonstrating exceptional skills having just turned 15, Rose won the gold medal in the 5-kilometer open water event, roughly 3.1 miles, at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Australia, with a time of 59 minutes, 23.5 seconds. In a race that saw controversy for fierce tussling for position, which included ripping off competitors's goggles and caps, Rose won with 1 minute, 35.3 seconds to spare over second place Dutchwoman Edith Van Dijk. Competitors were so closely packed near the finish, that there was only an eleven-second span between third and eleventh place. She also won a gold medal in the 5 km team event with American teammates John Flanagan, and Austin Ramirez. In the summer of 1998, around only sixteen, she won the USA Swimming 5 km Open Water Championship in Clovis, California with a time of 46:49.75. On August 11, 1999, she won the USA Swimming Open Water National Championships 5 km at Long Lake in Minneapolis with a time of 50:16. Just turning twenty-five, she won the USA Swimming Open Water 25 km again on May 21, 2007, in Fort Myers, with a time of 6:12:51.

Yangtze River Crossing win Erica, on May 1, 2002, at nineteen, became the first woman and the first foreigner to win Wuhan, China's Yangtze River Speed Crossing, a 2000-meter race that traverses the rapid current of the Yangtze, China's longest River.

Dubai, 2004 She was team captain for the World Team that raced in Dubai on November 6, 2004, completing the 25 km with a time of 5:53:05, finishing 11th of 18 and completing the 10 km with a time of 2:08:37, finishing 16th of 24.

Capri to Napoli 2006-7 On September 9, 2006, she swam one of her more challenging races, a 36 km swim from the Island of Capri to the coast of Napoli, Italy, finishing 11th of 17 in 7:34:18, in an event known as Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli as part of the FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup. She noted that jellyfish stings made the swim particularly challenging. On August 29, she completed 10 and 25 km swims in Napoli but did not place. She did the race again on July 7, 2007, but did not place.

Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean In her early 20's, she finished well and improved her place in the cold and demanding 32 km Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean in Canada on three separate occasions: July 20, 2005 - 21st overall, and 5th woman, 8:05:03. July 29, 2006 - 7th overall, and 1st woman, 7:12:41. July 28, 2007 - 4th overall, in 7:21:06.

She retired from elite competition around 2009, but often swam in the Big Shoulders 5k Open Water Swim in Chicago.

In the Fall of 2010, she swam about nine miles, completing 4 miles around Mackinac Island in the chilly waters of Lake Huron as a charity swim with Indiana-born distance swimmer Mallory Mead.

In 2010, Erica moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor she worked as a Recruitment Coordinator in the Office of Development and received a degree in global public health and business administration. At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor she worked as a Recruitment Coordinator in the Office of Development and received a degree in global public health and business administration.