Chloe McCardel Ties Record with 43rd English Channel Crossing
Australian endurance swimmer Chloe McCardel has tied the all-time record for successful crossings of the English with her 43rd on Thursday.
It’s her second of the season, and she will chase sole possession of the record by attempting her 44th crossing on Sunday. She completed her 42nd crossing on Sept. 21.
McCardel announced her final assault on the record last month. She completed her 42nd crossing in September but has been made to wait by inclement conditions on the channel between the United Kingdom and Europe. She had originally anticipated starting her season in August, but that was pushed back.
She departed from the U.K. at 12:30 a.m. BST and covered the time in 10 hours, 54 minutes. Conditions included 14-degree Celsius water and a wave that McCardel said knocked her goggles away into the surf from the start, forcing her to swim backstroke until her support boat produced a replacement. But as she has throughout her career, McCardel persevered to hit the shore in France.
McCardel told an Australian TV station that pending some neck pain from Thursday’s swim, she will chase another crossing in the next 48-72 hours to apprehend sole possession of the record.
The record for the most crossings is (not jointly) held by England’s Alison Streeter. A 2006 Honor Open Water Swimmer and 2010 inductee to the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Streeter made her 43rd and final crossing in 2005. She had taken down the previous record of 19, held by Cindy Nicholas, in 1992. McCardel has many times cited Streeter as her swimming idol
McCardel, 36, made her first crossing in 2009. Last year, she surpassed the men’s record for most channel crossings with 34, leaving just Streeter on the horizon. It’s one of many open-water feats accomplished by McCardel.
English Channel
Australian swimmer Chloe McCardel approaches France at sunrise as she completes her 43rd cross-Channel swim, before attempting her record-breaking 44th crossing due on SundayPhotograph: Gareth Fuller/PA pic.twitter.com/HKUDPa5CEh
— Abdulsatar Bochnak (@AbdulsatarBoch1) October 7, 2021
What a woman.
Congrat’s makes my 1km X 3 times a week pale into insignifigance.
Well done that woman.
Des BUTT
Frankanistan
Chinalia