Mina was a pool swimmer until 2008 when she took the plunge at the Wild Fish 1-mile swim in Salem, making her an instant open water convert. Since then, she has participated in numerous open water swims, over a half dozen marathon distance events, and has become certified as both a USMS Level I&II Coach and USMS Adult Learn-to-Swim Instructor. 

She joined the Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association (MOWSA) board as Secretary in 2021 and served as part of the organizing committee for the Boston Light Swim (BLS), the oldest marathon distance open water swim in the United States, for several years before taking over as Race Director for BLS in 2022. She has also been working on expanding MOWSA's swim offerings to provide more safe open water swimming opportunities in Massachusetts, regardless of economic status and physical ability.

A software product manager in educational technology by day, she is working on her swimming "comeback" after a shoulder injury, daydreams about her next marathon open water DNFs (somehow her favorite swims!), and wonders if "comeback" is really the right word after never being away from the water--just experiencing more swims from the boat.