BERKELEY
Maya Merhige, a 16-year-old marathon swimmer from Berkeley, has successfully completed a 20.5-mile swim across Europe’s English Channel.
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Merhige swam the English Channel in 11 hours and 39 minutes on July 13. Her accomplishment makes her one of the youngest swimmers in history to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, which includes the English Channel, Catalina Channel and Manhattan 20 Bridges swims.
She undertook the iconic English Channel swim and her other marathon swims to make waves to fight cancer and raise funds for the nonprofit Swim Across America, which funds innovative cancer treatments and clinical trials.
In September 2021, at 14 years old, Merhige broke the record as the youngest female in history to successfully swim the 20-mile Catalina Channel, finishing in 10 hours and 48 minutes. In 2023, at age 15 years old, Merhige was one of the youngest swimmers to successfully complete the 28.5-mile 20 Bridges swim around Manhattan Island, which took her 8 hours and 43 minutes.
“We are beyond proud of Maya and her determination and grit to swim these swims,” said her mother, Liz Tung. “We never imagined Maya, who was just 9 years old when she swam her first Swim Across America — San Francisco open water swim, would find such a passion for open water swimming and take her swimming so far.
“Earning the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming at just 16 years old is just incredible! We are thrilled for her!”
Maya also holds the world record as the youngest woman to swim the 21-mile length, 12-mile width, and 10.8-mile Vikingsholm courses of Lake Tahoe, earning her the Tahoe Triple Crown.
She also became the youngest swimmer in the world to successfully swim the grueling 26-mile Kaiwi Molokai Channel, between the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai and Oahu, which she completed in 27 hrs and 33 mins. She also holds a record for the longest duration and joined the ranks of the “24-Hour Club” with the 108th longest nonstop open water swim in history.
“I’m so grateful and excited to have successfully swum the English Channel and completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming,” said Merhige. “Swimming the English Channel this year was a big goal of mine for many reasons. This year marks my ninth year participating with Swim Across America.
“With the generous support of family, friends and others, I have been able to raise an incredible $100,000 to fight cancer, which has gone directly to the Swim Across America San Francisco beneficiary UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.”
Swim Across America is a national organization and offers open water and pool swims in 24 communities, from Boston Harbor to under the Golden Gate Bridge. Founded in 1987, Swim Across America has raised more than $100 million to fight cancer.
The organization raises money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment through swimming-related events. With the help of volunteers and Olympians, Swim Across America is an innovator and leader in giving hope to those fighting cancer. For more details online or to donate to Swim Across America, visit swimacrossamerica.org/maya.
— Swim Across America
WEST CONTRA COSTA
Bank of America internship opens doors for area teens
Two Contra Costa County teens are helping bring financial education to youth this summer as part of an eight-week paid internship as Bank of America Student Leaders.
Leslie Cruz Urquilla, of Richmond, an incoming senior at KIPP San Francisco College Preparatory, and recent Middle College High School graduate Laura Khuu, of Hercules, were recently picked for the prestigious internship at Junior Achievement of Northern California.
Urquilla, a first-generation Latina-American fluent in Spanish, is an honor roll student. She’s the student CEO for Rock the Street — Wall Street, a club that helps young women and nonbinary individuals learn about financial literacy.
Khuu, an incoming freshman at the UC Davis, is a first-generation American who speaks Vietnamese. She’s active in community service organizations aimed at tutoring youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
This is the 20th anniversary of Bank of America’s Student Leaders program, which was launched in the East Bay in 2004 to provide teens with work skills. The program’s capstone is a weeklong leadership summit in Washington, D.C., with 300 other Student Leaders from across the nation.
— Bank of America
BERKELEY
Panel OKs Skinner’s bill to address sexual abuse behind bars
The Assembly Public Safety Committee has approved SB 898, new legislation by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, that would address the problem of guards sexually assaulting incarcerated people in California prisons and jails. The bill now goes to the California Assembly Appropriations Committee.
The introduction of SB 898 is in response to ongoing sexual abuse by prison staff at California women’s prisons. Last year, a prison guard was charged with raping and sexual assaulting nearly two dozen women incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. Earlier this year, the federal women’s prison in Dublin, which was nicknamed the “rape club” because of pervasive assaults on women there, was closed.
Over the past year, the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, which Skinner chairs, has shined a spotlight on sexual misconduct and abuse by prison staff and retaliation against incarcerated survivors.
“No person, no matter what they did to be sentenced to prison or jail, should be forced to endure the brutal crime of rape or sexual assault — and then be punished for reporting it,” Skinner said. “SB 898 will provide whistleblower protections for survivors who have the courage to come forward, and will allow for a reduction in prison time for incarcerated individuals who were proven to have suffered from such assaults.”
SB 898 would help protect incarcerated people from sexual abuse by guards and staff and provide safeguards for whistleblowers by extending the time allowed for all survivors of prison or jail staff sexual abuse to file civil complaints until after they have been released from custody; reducing the prison or jail sentence for victims of proven sexual abuse by staff by up to a year; providing special resentencing consideration for victims of proven staff sexual abuse; protecting whistleblowers from retaliation for 90 days after they report sexual abuse; requiring investigations of cases of retaliation within 72 hours of reporting; and providing additional protections for whistleblowers who are victims of retaliation.
Skinner represents California Senate District 9, which includes Berkeley, Richmond, Oakland and Alameda, and also chairs the state Senate Housing Committee.
— state Sen. Nancy Skinner’s office
EL CERRITO
Nomination documents to run for council now available
Eligible residents interested in running for the El Cerrito City Council in the Nov. 5 election can obtain nomination documents and a candidate’s packet from the city clerk as of Monday this week. The election will fill three seats on the City Council for four-year terms starting in December. Eligible candidates must be registered voters age 18 or older who live in El Cerrito.
The nomination paper must be signed by at least 20 and not more than 30 registered El Cerrito voters. Nomination signatures can be collected between Monday of next week and Aug. 9. Signatures must be collected on the nomination paper issued by the city clerk.
The deadline for filing nomination and other associated documents is 4 p.m. Aug. 9. If nomination documents for an incumbent officer of the city are not filed by then, the nomination period for nonincumbent candidates will be extended to 4 p.m. Aug. 14.
Each candidate is required to file a Statement of Economic Interests disclosing investment, income, business positions and interests in real property with nomination documents. Candidates can also prepare a statement that includes their name and a description less than 250 words of their of education and qualifications.
The statement is filed with the nomination documents on the form provided by the city clerk and is included in the voter pamphlet mailed to voters. The charge to each candidate for providing this service is estimated to be $499 and payable at the time of filing nomination documents.
The City Clerk’s office is in City Hall at 10890 San Pablo Ave. in El Cerrito. For more information, visit el-cerrito.org/elections, email cityclerk@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or call 510-215-4305.
— city of El Cerrito
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