Sasha Schwendenwein

Sasha Schwendenwein covers the St. Nicholas Houses in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.  She is a former internationally ranked professional swimmer.Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa,  Sasha vividly remembers the presence of Apartheid. She’ll never forget standing in line with her mother during the first free and fair elections in 1994, when Nelson Mandela was voted in as president.  After the experience, she became fascinated with politics and social change. Her inspiration to pursue journalism was fueled by the work of reporters like James Nachtwey, who exposed the struggles of the people’s fight for equality. Swimming has been a major part of Sasha’s life since childhood. In 2009, she became an All-American athlete, reaching the national finals in the 200 meter butterfly. Later that summer, she traveled as a professional swimmer with Austria’s National Team and competed internationally with Olympic hopes. She retired from swimming this year after a heart injury and the sudden death of her coach of six years.Sasha balanced her swimming career with classes, and graduated from the University of Houston in 2010 with triple degrees in broadcast journalism, media production and creative writing.

This past summer, Sasha worked as a news anchor for Global Broadcast Connection (GBC) World News — a 24-hour cable station airing in major US cities. Previously, Sasha interned as a writer and reporter for PBS’s environmental sustainability TV program, “Living Smart” with Patricia Gras.

She speaks English, German and Dutch and is currently completing her master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School. She is interested in covering world religions, politics and sports. You can follow Sasha on Twitter @smschwen.