6 minute read
Faces of MAC
Swimming, Synchronized Lives & Changing Lanes
MAC can be a hard habit to break. Moving halfway around the world would encourage most people to at least consider getting rid of their gym membership, but MAC is more than just a gym, and Marni Davis isn’t most people.
The fourth-generation member and former chair of the Artistic Swimming Committee followed her heart to Mumbai, India, in February 2024, transitioning from resident to nonresident membership status in the process. While the move abroad has drastically limited her ability to find partners with whom to practice synchro, it hasn’t stopped her from competing and winning.
In July of last year, Davis met her fellow MAC Synchro Masters in Trinidad & Tobago for the 2024 PanAm Aquatics Masters Championship, where she earned a silver medal for her solo routine and was part of the team effort that brought home gold in the 35-49 age group. This July she heads to World Aquatics Masters Championships in Singapore, where she’ll again compete as a soloist, and then in September, she’ll swim the English Channel with two of her MAC Synchro teammates.
“My parents were both competitive swimmers, so I would say swimming is in our DNA, but if I wasn’t competing in these events, I probably wouldn’t be swimming nearly as much these days,” she explains. “That’s how I’m keeping myself engaged in the sport, but it’s also a lot of fun, and I love it. It’s just that things have changed a little bit!”
Of all the ways Mumbai is different from Portland — more than 20 million residents compared to less than 700,000, for instance — two major contrasts seem to stick in Davis’ swim cap. “The weather is my biggest hurdle at this point. It just never cools off. I’m sweating all the time, and I’m from the Pacific Northwest, so I don’t like to sweat.”
But even more impactful to Davis’ way of life is that, “Swimming in India is a very different thing. Let’s just say that it’s been an adventure on its own.” First, due to the population density, pools can be crowded starting as early as 6 a.m., and amenities Americans might be used to, like organized lap swimming with lane lines and designated areas for different aquatic activities, are not always compulsory.
After discovering “Ladies Hour,” during which she shares a 50-meter pool, a diving pool, and a learning pool, with fewer than 15 other women total, she’s been reminded that artistic swimming isn’t necessarily recognized as a sport there. “They have no idea what I’m doing, but they’re interested,” Davis reports. So interested in fact, that she recently started to teach some of the other swimmers how to scull, a basic artistic swimming skill.
Davis also practices with the Goa Open Water Swimming Club, which is located on the Arabian Sea. “Even there, when they found out I do synchro, they said, ‘Come to the pool and show us what you do.’ They all want to learn and grow, and that’s really cool for swimming in any capacity.”
In her own life, Davis’ decision to move to Mumbai highlights a similar desire for expansion and growth. After meeting her new husband, Arjun Bhandegaonkar, through Instagram, the two dated long distance, taking turns visiting each other across the world. Eventually she decided to take a leave of absence from her job as an administrative law judge for the State of Oregon to relocate with her pug-chihuahua mix, Tot, and has since retired to facilitate this most recent adventure. She and Bhandegaonkar, who works as a writer for Indian movies and TV shows, were married last year, and while Davis very much misses Portland, she has zero regrets.
“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life to pick up and move here, but I always knew I would regret not taking this opportunity to live here,” she says. “I love traveling, so it’s been a great experience.”
Describing India as incredibly welcoming, Davis gushes about the new sights and sounds she’s encountered. “There is so much music here,” she says particularly of the many festivals and holidays celebrated by such a multicultural society. “The food is awesome, and everybody is really kind.”
She’s doing her best to reciprocate this generosity of spirit by learning Hindi in an effort to more fully participate in India’s vast culture. With more than 120 recognized languages there, it can be daunting, but she reports that most people she encounters understand English.
When she travels back to Portland twice a year, Davis appreciates the familiar rhythms of home, and MAC is always a part of these return visits. Her mom, Marni Bethell Williams, started teaching swimming as a teenager, worked with Mel Fox, and became a lifeguard and team coach. Both parents swam with the MAC masters teams, and the club’s pools are Davis’ natural habitat.
The family also celebrated anksgiving at MAC every year until the passing of her father, Charles Johnson, who, despite moving to Palm Springs, kept his nonresidential membership to the very end.
“He kept saying, ‘I’m going to cancel,’ but he just couldn’t. I also can’t imagine giving it up,” she admits. Her brother and his family remain members, along with many close friends. She says that her continued membership makes it easier to see everyone when she’s home.
“I want to use my 36 times that I’m allotted through my nonresident membership, so I try to be as strategic as I can to get time in at the MAC and go to events,” she says. Last time she was in town, Davis made sure she was here for the Celebration of Champions to support Julie Vigeland and the accomplishments of her MAC Synchro teammates.
“MAC is like my home. I always want to take a swim and use some towels,” she says, laughing. “It’s even more magical now. I come back to it and am like, ‘God, this pool is so beautiful.’”
