Courtesy of Futurism, Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Decades ago when Lynne Cox and Penny Dean, Kevin Murphy and Michael Read were swimming across the English Channel in their primes, the standard rule of thumb was that the water temperature between England and France was below 16°C.

Now as the four luminaries of the English Channel community serve ambassadors of channel swimming and the sport of open water swimming in general, the water temperature in the Channel have reportedly increased during the Channel swimming season over the decades.

While most governments, leaders and researchers around the world have acknowledged climate change and are trying to do something about it, the United States has pulled out of the Paris Agreement and did not attend the recent World Oceans Summit in Mexico that was held between March 7th – 9th, missing out on an opportunity to globally discuss ocean health and environmental science.

In contrast, the presidents of Iceland and Norway, the former president of Costa Rica, and officials from Canada, Portugal, Uruguay, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Ecuador, Sweden, Thailand, and Chile addressed the assembly over the three-day event although American university researchers and companies were also present in Playa del Carmen where FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series events have been held.

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