American Bethany Mitchell Completes North Channel Swim
American Bethany Mitchell this summer completed a swim, since ratified, across the North Channel, linking Great Britain and Ireland.
Mitchell, a native of Illinois and resident of Seattle, completed the crossing on July 27. Mitchell and her son Yarrow worked in tandem to train and plan the swim, which can only happen in narrow windows during the late summer and fall. She completed the 21.4-mile, one-way crossing in 13 hours, nine minutes, 21 seconds, starting in Ireland and ending in Scotland.
The swim, connecting Northern Ireland and the Mull of Galloway, is part of the Ocean’s Seven swims, devised in 2008. Less than 200 swimmers have completed the North Channel crossing in the rich history since the feat was first completed by Tom Blower in 1947. It is regarded as one of the world’s trickiest swims thanks to the conditions in and around the water.
The North channel is one of the worlds toughest swims. Makes the English Channel look like a cakewalk