Courtesy of The Adventure Show and Marathon Swimmers Federation, North Minch, Scotland.
Colleen Blair crossed the North Minch from the Isle of Lewis to the Scottish mainland for the first time in human history.
Her peers with the Marathon Swimmers Federation honored her with the MSF Yudovin Award for Most Adventurous Marathon Swim of 2018.
She completed the 37.3 km crossing in 18 hours 46 minutes in water that dropped to 9°C and was no warmer than 13.8°C at any point while two other swimmers – Colin Macleod and Norman Todd – were rescued.
“[The swim was] much longer than I thought, lots more jellies than I thought, colder that I thought, but I’m glad it’s done,” she told the BBC after enduring a number of stings by Lion’s Mane jellyfish.
A member of the Frosted Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming for her channel swims and Ice Mile, Blair was also named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women.
Copyright © 2008-2019 by World Open Water Swimming Association