OT: My sister attempts to swim the English Channel

[MarleyMon]

Here is a link to the article she wrote about it:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-17/from-ymca-flying-fish-to-france-my-english-channel-swim.html

My much younger sister Sara is going to swim the English Channel tomorrow!
She has been training for a long time and now she is going to do it.
Here is the link to her swim tracker - follow along and show support. Go Sara!
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0YiSKTgibNUcJO8O3lIepVK7SmuuNGa Hi

[redir]

That's pretty epic, good luck to your sister.

[wc1934]

AWESOME - we'll be cheering her on.

[Tony Edwards]

Very impressive! I hope her trip is successful and safe.

[MarleyMon]

After a week's delay she is in the water! Go Sara Go.
3 hours of swimming so far, 9 to go.

Her coach's twitter has pics here:
https://twitter.com/CoachTimSwim

[josephr]

After a week's delay she is in the water! Go Sara Go.
3 hours of swimming so far, 9 to go.

Her coach's twitter has pics here:
https://twitter.com/CoachTimSwim

awesome! Go Sara!

[soulspinner]

Wow. 60 strokes a minute after hours in the water. Go Kid!

[cnighbor1]

wow that is some act of courage!! I hope she pulls it off. YES!!!!
My uncle on my mother side was a great long distance swimmer. I would go to the pool. he would get in swim labs. his swim stroke was so smooth. and he just glided slowly thru the water. wonderful to watch
Has for my swimming abilities on to next subject
Charles

[kgreene10]

I'm floored. Truly amazing. I've been following her progress with the tracker throughout the day. She is following a circuitous route. Is that by design because of the current? I would be interested to hear more about it.

[unterhausen]

that's really great. I just can't imagine doing something like that

[ctcyclistbob]

The last tweet was a half hour ago, and it seems like she's around 2 miles from the coast now.

She's still going strong. Go Sara !!!

[Louis]

She's still going strong. Go Sara !!!

Great news!

Go Sara indeed.

[unterhausen]

she must have finished

[MarleyMon]

She has finished! Just under 14 hours. Ebb tide pushed her south but she recovered well.
She always was a determined soul! Thanks for all your support.

WOW! Brava Sara!

[texbike]

She has finished! Just under 14 hours. Ebb tide pushed her south but she recovered well.
She always was a determined soul! Thanks for all your support.

WOW! Brava Sara!

That is fantastic! Congratulations to your sister!!! I'm sure that your family is very proud of her accomplishment.

[Louis]

Ebb tide pushed her south but she recovered well.

I just looked at the route track - the current sure did do a number on her course. As you said, nice recovery on her part.

[unterhausen]

that's really cool, thanks for sharing this with us. I assume there was a place on the coast she was aiming for?

[MattTuck]

I just looked at the route track - the current sure did do a number on her course. As you said, nice recovery on her part.

Yeah, that looks to have added significant distance to her path... did she have to swim against the current in that last section or did the current reverse and help her back on course?

[Louis]

or did the current reverse and help her back on course?

I bet that's what happened. Since they know exactly what the tides are going to do before hand they probably chose the start time so she would have an assist at the end.

[MarleyMon]

I bet that's what happened. Since they know exactly what the tides are going to do before hand they probably chose the start time so she would have an assist at the end.

I'm sure the coach knew what he was doing - he's coached a number of swimmers across.

Still can't believe she's done it! She lives in London, but will be visiting in September - can't wait to congratulate her in person. She was always a waterbug but never swam competitively. She was a lifeguard at the Y and at the East Race Waterway (http://sbpark.org/parks/east-race-waterway/) in South Bend. She discovered open water swimming 10 years ago and now this! It is just such a gigantic achievement!
Her swim raised 1500 pounds for RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
https://www.givey.com/saramarley

[Saguaro]

Fantastic effort! Well done!

[MarleyMon]

Here is a nice follow-up article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/bloomberg-news-editor-swims-english-channel-mostly-in-darkness.html

I believe she is one of fewer than 300 women who have ever completed the swim.

[malcolm]

Wow what a feat, she's a bad ass

[MarleyMon]

...she's a bad ass
You got that right!

[MarleyMon]

Sara wrote an article about her experience:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-08/my-english-channel-swim-jellyfish-and-lights-in-the-distance.html

I talked to her the day after and she hadn't slept or eaten solid food yet. Her throat was very sore for days because of all the saltwater. She was interviewed by every journo she studied with or worked near. Of course she made the hometown newspaper "front page above the fold".

Her hubby is quite a good bike rider - here he is crashing into a rider who stopped during the tequila shortcut at a Rapha cross race in London - you're not supposed to stop!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcwaeXJmnZQ

[redir]

Nice! That's a hell of a swim.

[tiretrax]

I can't swim across my bathtub. Congratulations.

[paredown]

Wow--coolest thread.

I love the Everest comparison--it really puts her accomplishment in perspective. And I love that she has done something epic, even though she is no spring chicken.

Congratulations to your sister!

[54ny77]

that is awesome and pls. give her a hearty kudos!