Chloe McCardel Crowned Queen Of The English Channel After Her World Record Breaking 44th Crossing From England To France
Australia’s extraordinary marathon swimmer Chloe McCardel has today been crowned the official “Queen of the Channel” after her world record breaking 44th crossing of the English Channel from England to France.
After the 37-year-old set off from the English coast in the early hours, she took around 10 hours to swim the 34 kilometres and reached Pointe de la Courte Dune near Calais in France.
CHANNEL QUEEN: Chloe McCardel. Photo Courtesy: Chloe McCardel.com
Her remarkable 44th crossing came just days after her record equalling 43rd swim to equal the record of Englishwoman Alison Streeter, in an amazing show of endurance and continued love affair with the Channel.
Australia now hails the “King” of the Channel, the legendary Maroubra lifesaver, the late Des Renford with his 19 crossings and now the “Queen” Chloe McCardel with her 44th.
Wrapped in an Australian flag, she said: “I’ve been waiting a long time to celebrate this swim.”
She later spoke to Australia’s ABC TV News Breakfast saying: “I’ve got a lot of adrenalin right now. I should be tired but I’m feeling great…my chest (infection) is fine…and I’m feeling fabulous.
“I had better than average conditions. There was a bit of lumpiness in the middle for about three or four hours but considering how bad the Channel usually is, it was close to a dream day and I enjoyed every minute of it.
“The whole thing just flew in time. I was just loving doing my final lap of my last hurrah.”
McCardel spoke of her ability to concentrate during the crossing.
“I have to stabilise my self. The swell is constantly pushing you around and I’m stabilising my stroke,” said McCardel
“I must stick with my support boat which is with me the whole entire crossing. I can’t end up zig-zagging because it would take much longer to cross the English Channel or they might even lose me.
“So first of all I’m going to fixate on that and I have to live in the present and really enjoy the beautiful aspects of the Channel, like the amazing sunrises and the cargo ships and tankers with around 2000 containers, so colourful and huge so I am in awe of the moments.”
CHANNEL KING: Des Renford. Photo Courtesy: Pan MacMillan (Nothing Great Is Easy with Ian Heads).
Describing her spiritual home, McCardel said the Channel was a magical place.
“It draws people to its shores from all over the world and is renown as the most challenging of all marathon swims and if I wanted to be a competitive open water swimmer I knew I had to go there to prove myself.
“But I never knew I would fall in love with it and swim it 44 times and exercising and continuing my English Channel dreams has been really therapeutic and part of my rehabilitation from post traumatic stress disorder which I had diagnosed after domestic violence and continuing a regular exercise routine has played a huge part in my recovery.”
And when asked if a 45th crossing was on the cards, McCardel said: “I’m really happy being the queen and the next woman is more than 20 crossing behind me, so I think I’ll call it a day at 44!