On Friday 25th September I (Penny) became the first person to swim solo from the tiny Island of Santa Barbara to Point Vincente on the Californian coast.
The distance had been swum only twice before by two relay teams of men. The first was a team of 6 men who swam in one hour rotations, it took them 18 hours and 45 minutes to cover the distance, last year 2 men swam in 3 hour rotations it took them more than 33 hours to complete the 40+ mile or 64 kilometer distance.
I am delighted with my swim in a time of 17 hours 53 minutes. I was fortunate to have great weather conditions during my swim and an amazing support team. I always say that while marathon swimming is an individual sport it is always a team effort, I truly thank everyone involved, some of whom had never heard of me before but gave up two days to help in this epic swim. Of course there are one or two special thanks which this time must go to Anne Cleveland and Forrest Nelson, also my boat captain of the Outrider, John Pittman. We had a great team and it was an awesome effort from everyone involved. I thank you all.
I’ll post a few photos here, but check the photo gallery for more. ~ Penny
