Australian swimmer Chloe McCardel sets world record for most English Channel swims

After successfully completing her 44th swim across the English Channel between England and France, Australian marathon swimmer Chloe McCardel has been officially dubbed "Queen of the English Channel." On Wednesday, October 13, she set a new world record for the most swims across the English Channel, surpassing Alison Streeter's previous mark of 43 crossings. Notably, McCardel had broken the men's world record of 34 crosses in 2020. It took her 12 years, more than 450 hours in cold water, and at least 1.5 million strokes to accomplish this feat, according to a report by The Guardian. 

McCardel stated she had been looking forward to this moment for a long time. "I am very grateful for having received so much help from people all around the United Kingdom and Australia to get me through for the last 12 years," she was quoted as saying by the outlet. It further informed that she also had to battle a chest illness and had breathing problems in the months leading up to her last swim. McCardel further stated that so many people assisted her in realising her dreams, and she hopes to inspire the next generation of open water swimmers and young people to pursue their goals.

McCardel hopes that her feat of endurance, skill and pure tenacity will serve as an example to other female athletes. She also discusses her experience as a domestic abuse survivor publicly, and she credits swimming with assisting her in her recovery from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Even she conceded that crossing the Channel a record-breaking number of times seemed insane at times, reported the Guardian. It should be mentioned here that McCardel learnt to swim when she was 11 years old and went on to become a competitive swimmer in no time. At the age of 19, she decided that she wanted to be the best in the world at something, and began marathon swimming. She then went on to complete the world's longest unaided ocean swim, covering 77 miles (124 kilometres) from South Eleuthera Island to Nassau in the Bahamas, reported the outlet. 

McCardel also serves as a motivational speaker and coach

McCardel is self-funded and runs her own company to assist other aspiring Channel swimmers in achieving their goals of completing a solo or relay swim. Besides, she also serves as a motivational speaker and coach, reported the outlet. Meanwhile, she also posted about her massive achievement on her official Instagram page, garnering a plethora of praises from people. Reacting to her achievement, one of the users wrote, "Amazing accomplishment Chloe, well done." "Amazing! You’re an inspiration! Congrats on the achievement and following your dream. And here’s to the incredible support crew too [sic]," wrote another. "When will number 45 take place [sic]," asked a user.   

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Image: Instagram/@Chloë McCardel