Brazilian swimmer Mayra Santos dreamed of her goal and lived her dream yesterday on December 12th when she pioneered a 32 km circumnavigation swim around Porto Santo, the smallest inhabited Portuguese island in the Madeira Islands, popularly nicknamed the Golden Island.
Her 11 hour 19.52 minute swim – called ‘Volta a nado à Ilha Dourada‘ – started at 7:00 am and finished at 6:19 pm at Praia da Fontinha by the Porto Santo Pier where locals and supporters cheered her on.
Santos’ dream was to complete one more unprecedented swim in 2023 – and that she did in spectacular fashion.
The water was rough and turbulent in many places, but the underwater beauty was constant.
Porto Santo is located 90 minutes by airplane from Lisbon, Portugal in the extreme southwest of Europe, 500 km from the African coast and 1,000 km from the European continent where Santos has established her open water swimming company SwimMadeira.
Santos explained her motivation and goals, “This year has been particularly challenging to dive headfirst into the project of creating SwimMadeira where we offer swimming vacations and an open water school in Madeira. I wanted to harness the tourist potential that Madeira offers, combined with my passion for this discipline.”
Santos concluded after having to wait for longer than she thought was necessary. But her support team with pilot João Duarte, Vitor Menezes, Roberto Correira, and observer Dalila Lira was patient and always hopeful. “I wanted to do something more. I completed a swim that I have anticipated and planned for over two years. The challenging winter sea conditions added different dimensions to my journey.“
Her original swimming window around Porto Santo wss between December 3rd and 9th, but she had to wait until December 12th for the conditions to calm down enough for a reasonable attempt.
And she made the most of it – from start to finish at Praia da Fontinha.
To watch Santos swim around the Golden Island, watch Volta a nado à Ilha Dourada here.
© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“