Lisa Cummins became the first Irish person to successfully complete a double-crossing of the English Channel. 35 hours and 36 minutes after setting out, she accomplished her feat that has drawn praise and respect from the global open water swimming community.Lisa's accomplishment is quite impressive given her start in open water.
"I started training for the swim straight away [after setting her goal]. For the first few months, I worked on building up my laps in the pool. In fact, it was nearly Easter before I actually got into the sea. On the first day, I only lasted about six minutes in the water because it was just so cold and it was probably a couple of weeks before I could even do my first mile at sea but, I just kept at it."
From six minutes to over 35 hours. There is something to be said for persistence, determination and patience.
Lisa swam not only for herself, but also for three charities: the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation, Marymount Hospice and Cork ARC Cancer Support House.
Sarah Cummins was onboard Lisa's escort boat with unique perspective of the accomplishment, "I was afforded a unique opportunity that will stay with me the rest of my life. She was amazing, kept the spirit up and was nothing but focused the whole swim. It was a pleasure to crew, she just put the head down and swam. She built up her open water swimming from nothing, just worked on endurance over 16 months."
As the 20th person worldwide to complete a double-crossing, Lisa is quite the inspiration.
1 comment:
Absolutely amazing.
Shows you what the mind can imagine, the body can do.
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