Chloe McCardel breaks men’s Channel record with 35th crossing
Mona Vale swimmer Chloe McCardel has a new world record to add to her long list of achievements - the men’s mark for the most English Channel crossings.
Manly
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Australian Chloe McCardel has gone from a kid who couldn’t swim to a world record holding Channel crosser.
Australian Chloe McCardel has gone from a kid who couldn’t swim to a world record holding Channel crosser.
The northern beaches based swimmer, who trained for her crossings in both the ocean and in Manly Dam, on Sunday went one better than British swimmer Kevin Murphy who had held the men’s record of 34 crossings.
But she will have the jump in the water another nine times to break the women’s record held by a now retired British swimmer.
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“I’m really happy it’s done I feel so elated to have finished that swim and to surpass the men’s world record,’’ she saaid after the feat.
“It was a harder swim that I imagined. There was a chance the swim was going to be cancelled because of heavy mist which can make channel swimming unsafe.
“Luckily, we managed and got through the mist. There are definite aches and pains, so it was a tough day in the office but super happy to finally hit 35.”
Prior to Sunday’s feat the 35-year-old completed three Channel crossings in just nine days which took her level with Murphy.
McCardel has now notched up her 35 crossings between 2009 and 2020.
She now sits second on the overall world record list behind retired English swimmer Alison Streeter who has completed the crossing 43 times
Her long list of feats include being the first Australian – and only fourth person – to complete a triple non-stop crossing, a world record for the longest unassisted ocean swim in the Bahamas in 2014 (124.4km), world record holder for single Channel crossings in a season in 2016 (eight) and world record holder for single crossings in a week in 2015 (three).
FACTS AND FIGURES
Her swim start at Samphire Hoe, near Dover, and finishes at Cap gris Nez in France.
To do four crossings, McCardel used around 158,000 swim strokes.
The four crossings will total 136km.
During each crossing she stopped every 30 minutes for a liquid feed.