O'Hara resident joins charity swim in Monongahela River
Lizabeth “Libby” Ernharth of O’Hara is a lifelong swimmer about to experience a swimming first — she’s going to swim in the Monongahela River.
Ernharth, 53, is set to participate in a non-competitive five-mile Mon River Mission charity swim on Aug. 2.
Ernharth has plenty of memories spending time on Pittsburgh’s three rivers, but not in the rivers. She said she’s a bit nervous, but excited, for the upcoming open water swim, expected to take up to several hours and will include swimming with and against the current.
“To get mostly naked after your body’s prime years (none of us are 20!) and go attach yourself to a bright orange flotation device (not fashionable) and then swim in a mud-based river that people don’t swim in to raise money for cancer patients and their families — supporting that way more uncomfortable journey? These are just awesome people by definition,” Ernharth said.
Three other swimmer friends will join Ernharth and they’re swimming to raise funds for Cancer Bridges, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit dedicated to helping anyone impacted by cancer.
“I have lost too many dear friends already to cancer. Too young — all of them. So that’s the whole point,” Ernharth said.
Ernharth, alongside avid swimmers Justin Aaron Dutta of Squirrel Hill, Jennifer Petyk of South Fayette and Judy Flynn Caves of Mt. Lebanon, will begin their swim at 7 a.m.
The early start time is advantageous because there’s likely to be less boat traffic then.
The annual summer charity swim was created by Caves during the covid shutdown.
Caves invited Ernharth to participate this year when another swimmer dropped out due to injuries.
Caves, 65, has been open water swimming for 15 years and swimming since 1975.
“Libby is very passionate and when she says she’s going to do something, she puts her whole heart in it,” Caves said.
The group will set off from the launch at Duck Hollow by the Homestead Bridge and be accompanied by Cave’s husband Norman, who will paddle a safety kayak alongside the swimmers.
To date, the swimmers have raised more than $3,600 of their $7,500 goal for Cancer Bridges.
Swim, marriage and Africa
Ernharth grew up swimming in pools all over the Fox Chapel area. She’s the daughter of the late Laurie Culbertson and her father is John Culbertson of O’Hara.
At Fox Chapel Area High School, where she graduated from in 1990, Ernharth excelled in swimming, soccer, rowing and track.
She then swam on the University of New Hampshire Swim Team.
As a teen, Ernharth honed her long-distance swimming skills during summers spent working at Camp AK-O-Mak, in Ontario, Canada, where open-water lake swimming was a daily activity.
Ernharth wasn’t fond of the required early morning lake swims at the camp.
“Swimming is my favorite thing and the things that you don’t like in the morning, like that swim in the lake, it’s the thing now that brings me the most peace,” she said. “The things I figure out in my head while swimming.”
She works full-time as a physician assistant with a specialization in infectious diseases for UPMC but always finds time for weekly swims.
After graduating New Hampshire University with a degree in pre-veterinary medicine, Ernharth married Johannes Ernharth in 1995 and the couple joined the Peace Corps and moved to Uganda for seven months.
“Peace Corps pushed me into medicine,” Ernharth said. “My friends were telling me the fastest way to practice was physician’s assistant. I graduated from Chatham University in 1999.”
Social swimming pursuits
In 2014, Ernharth founded The Pittsburgh Flying Fish Heads, an independent United States Masters Swimming program affiliated with the Fox Chapel Killer Whales.
The Fish Heads is an all-volunteer organization and is a United States Masters Swimming program that offers year-round swimming opportunities for its more than 150 members.
Swims are hosted at the Fox Chapel Racquet Club in Fox Chapel, Shady Side Academy and Fox Chapel Area High School.
Members must be 18 or older.
“Most people swim because it’s a coached workout and there’s that sense of camaraderie,” Ernharth explained.
Returning to a consistent swim routine is rewarding for Erhharth, particularly now that her three sons are grown.
“I burned out (swimming) in my 20s and didn’t swim and missed the swim team environment,” Ernharth said.
She plans to take peanut butter and electrolyte-infused water for her first river swim.
Caves frequently swims in the Mon and said that with this year’s hot summer, the water temperature will be warmer than average.
“We started swimming in the river in 2020 because the pools were closed because of covid. The thought occurred to me to use our gifts for good. I thought, “What are my gifts? I can swim.”
Since the inaugural swim that benefited the Pittsburgh Food Bank, the swimmers have chosen a different charity each summer.
The Monongahela River is preferred over the Allegheny River because it’s not as swiftly moving and isn’t as deep.
Caves said wildlife encounters on the Mon are a cool swimming spectacle, with Blue Heron, Bald Eagle and lots of fish jumping sightings.
For Libby, checking off a new swimming charity first with fellow swimmers is a win-win.
“These are just awesome people by definition,” she said.
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Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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