Channel swim success!
After a very successful year in the pool, including a varsity win in February 2017, Dr Victoria Cox and OUSC Coach Naomi Vides turned their training focus to open water swimming, with the aim of crossing the English Channel. OUSC is in awe of their hard work and dedication, we are extremely proud of what they have achieved!
At 1am on the 15th of August, Naomi was the first to begin her journey from England to France. After many hours swimming through rain, cold and darkness, she arrived in France, completing the English Channel Swim in an incredible time of 12 hours. Naomi also had a deeply personal and meaningful reason for completing this challenge, as she pledged to raise money for Reverse Rett. This is a charity supporting research into Rett syndrome, a devastating disease affecting primarily girls, including Naomi’s younger sister Nadya. If you would like to acknowledge Naomi’s amazing achievement by contributing a donation to this charity, please follow the link below to Naomi’s JustGiving page.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/naomi-swims-to-france
Only a day later Victoria Cox also set off to complete the challenge of swimming the English channel. However, as if swimming the English channel wasn’t already enough, this summer Victoria has also completed the Catalina channel (from Santa Catalina Island to mainland LA) and a circumnavigation of Manhattan Island. These are three of the largest open water swims in the world, collectively known as the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. Victoria is the first Australian and one of only 7 people in history to have completed all three swims in one season – and the 164th person to have achieved the Triple Crown!
Catalina Channel Swim (15 hours 39, 33km): 6th July 2017
English Channel Swim (12 hours 12, 34km): 16th August 2017
20 Bridges Manhattan Island Swim (8 hours 10, 46km): 8th September 2017
Victoria will start training with OUSC again in Michaelmas, ready for another successful pool swimming season. We are lucky to have her as the 2017/2018 Open Water Captain for the Varsity Channel Relay, where she will guide a team of 6 swimmers from Oxford to swim across the English Channel, competing against Cambridge in June 2018.
