Rare North Channel Success

By Steven Munatones

BELFAST, Ireland, September 17. COLLEEN Blair from Dundee, Scotland became the ninth person to successfully cross the treacherous North Channel between Ireland and Scotland last week.

The North Channel (Irish Channel) is considered to be one of the toughest channel swims in the world. The 21.6-mile (40K) channel between northern Ireland and southwestern Scotland has been successfully crossed by only nine people to date. The water temperature is sub-58ºF even in summer, the chill factor is usually bitterly cold with the winds and a sea of jellyfish is the norm. Accounting for the tides, the actual swim distance usually ends up more than 35 miles in water.

Blair started from the Irish coast at 7:30 a.m. and finished 15 hours and 24 minutes later under as near perfect conditions as one could imagine.

"I had an early start to a beautiful sunrise. I was extremely lucky with the weather as it was sunny and calm all the way. When it got dark, the wind picked up, causing some chop and more jellyfish, but the conditions were still good. The last part of the swim was hard [because of the change in tides]. I was overjoyed when I finished."

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