Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

After years of planning and preparing, Tita Llorens finally completed an unprecedented solo swim from Ibiza to Mallorca.

The 84.3 km journey took the 46-year-old a total of 28 hours 13 minutes, one of the few people in the world who have purposefully swum for longer than 24 hours.

Starting at 4 am from d´en Jonc on cala Sant Vicent, she crawled upon Mola de Mallorca shortly after 8 am the following day to become the first person to complete the Mallorca Channel after 2 years of failed attempts including last year’s 74 km swim that was called after 21 hours.

“The third try was the charm.”

One obstacle that she overcame was sleep. “I was swimming as I slept,” she explained. But she forged on and slowly but surely knocked off the kilometers as time passed on.

She was always worried about jellyfish, but after the first 50 kilometers, she had only it ran into one. “I could not believe it.” But it was too good to be true. Over the last 15 km, the jellyfish came out in droves, causing a number of stings.

Llorens dedicated her success to her husband, Francisco Siscu Pons who has been one of her biggest supporters: “I think he enjoys it more than me.”

Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association