Australian open water marathon swimmer Chloe McCardel has broken the World Record for the longest non-current-assisted, continuous, open-water solo swim in recorded history, according to Yahoo News. Unofficially, the old record belonged to Zhang Jian at 123 kilometers, though the Houston Chronicle questioned whether that swim was documented enough to be considered a record.
Diana Nyad’s Cuba to Florida swim was longer (approximately 110 miles), but there is a strong surface current involved there, demonstrating the challenges of comparing records in open water swims. Nyad also wore a special protective wetsuit, whereas McCardel swam in just a standard-issue suit.
At any rate, the 29-year old Australian swam for 42.5 hours (just shy of Nyad’s 53-hour swim) around the Bahamas. She began at the southern tip of Eleuthera Island and wound up in Nassau.
The full GPS tracking of McCardel’s swim can be seen here.
Great effort.
So she swam the 42 hours without stopping?