The Hellespont swim is always a historic day in the SwimTrek calendar…
This crossing from Europe to Asia is the adventure that inspired our founder, Simon Murie, to pioneer swimming holidays for a global market. Back in 2000, Simon celebrated his 30th birthday by doing this swim. He followed the example set by poet Lord Byron and Leander of Greek legend, who also swam the distance.
To swim the Hellespont is to realise that swimming adventures make for truly incredible holidays. This is where it all started for SwimTrek. Now, we run trips to over 50 locations worldwide, from Scotland to Fiji.
The Hellespont race is a historic cross-continental swim from Europe to Asia in Turkey. The swim traces its history back to Greek mythology when Leander crossed the strait to meet his lover Hero on the other side. The crossing was officially swum for the first time by the poet Lord Byron in 1810.
The event holds a spot near the top of any open water swimmer’s wish list. Swimmers wait for August 30 to swing around and the festivities of Turkish Victory Day to kick off, which commemorates the day the Turkish War of Independence ended. On the day, all participants rush together into the waters at Eceabat on the European side of Turkey. They thread their way across the strait, crossing the world's busiest shipping channel (brought to a halt for the day of the swim), to Canakkale on the Asian side.
The swim can be challenging, with strong currents close to the finish line, which can pull swimmers away from their destination. By all accounts it is a once-in-a-lifetime event!
You can also read our interview with Janel Jorgensen McArdle below. Janel competed in the 1988 Olympics and is now COO of Swim Across America. This year, she joined 1250 swimmers from 29 countries and crossed the Hellespont alongside cancer survivor Julia Brookshire.
The two swimming friends did this to celebrate Brookshire’s cancer remission and to raise funds for cancer research with Swim Across America.
While you scroll, don't forget to stop and enjoy the work of the two fantastic photographers - Alp Özdemir and Fikret Özgür - who captured every stage of the annual event in northern Turkey:
Julia Brookshire & Janel Jorgensen McArdle | Swim Across America
Our recent partnership with Swim Across America gave us an introduction to Julia Brookshire and Janel Jorgensen McArdle, who were awarded free entry into the Hellespont and Dardanelles Swim this year.
Julia is a cancer survivor from North Carolina who crossed the Hellespont with Olympic swimmer Janel of Boston. The duo finished the cross-continental swim in 1 hour and 21 minutes, raising over $55,000 in the fight against cancer.
“Swimming is what kept me centred and grounded throughout my battle with CLL,” said Julia, “This swim wasn’t just about completing a historic challenge, but about celebrating life, health, and the incredible support I’ve received from my family, friends and Swim Across America.”
Follow the link below to support Julia’s fundraising efforts and learn more about Swim Across America.
'This swim wasn’t just about completing a historic challenge, but about celebrating life...’
‘You’ve just taken part in the ‘World’s Oldest Swim’. How did training go and what were your expectations before you dove into the Hellespont?’
Janel: 'If I am being completely honest, I didn't get a chance to do much swimming this summer to train for the event. We had a house fire early in the summertime and it's taken up a lot of my personal time outside of work, so my training was really limited.'
'Mentally, I needed to go off of the fact that I have been a competitive swimmer my entire life and because I hadn't trained too much, it took the competitiveness out of the event for me, which was kind of fun!'
'I just wanted to do the swim for the experience of doing the swim and not worrying about my time/speed/etc... it was perfect!’
‘What was the most memorable moment of your cross-continental swim from Europe to Asia?’
Janel: 'For me, it certainly was being by myself out in the water all alone. I was swimming on behalf of Swim Across America, which raises money for cancer research. So I spent the majority of the swim thinking of all those people I know who have battled cancer or succumbed to the disease.'
'Last year, my husband had a radical prostatectomy from prostate cancer and my sister is currently battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, so I knew I had to complete the swim to honour them, in addition to all of my donors. I was able to use the swim to raise over $30,000, so that was all the inspiration I needed to do the swim!'
‘What advice would you give to anyone who’s nervous to sign up to this incredible event?’
Janel: 'I would tell them to sign up ASAP! It was such an incredible event that SwimTrek put on - I felt safe the entire time I was out there (so many support boats, kayaks, etc) and there were so many resources throughout the weekend offering help, insights and tips.'
'I made new friends from different continents. I think there were swimmers from 29 countries and if you need any more inspiration, just think back to when Lord Byron was doing the swim. The current will get you across with no issues! You won't regret it, and you will be part of history - how many people can say they swam from one continent to another?'
'...how many people can say they swam from one continent to another?'
