By day, Lauren Tischendorf, 39, is a special education assistant principal in Sydney, Australia. But, outside of work hours, Tischendorf swims, a lot. Just about every day, Tischendorf dives into the Pacific Ocean as part of an intense open-water swimming regime she’s maintained for years. And in 2021, Tischendorf set her sights on something that had never been done before—to become the first woman to circumnavigate the shark-infested waters around Lord Howe Island. Five hundred miles northeast of Sydney, the small, volcanic island is 6 square miles and measures about…
