Elite athletes set new world record in the Mediterranean
Extreme swimmers Nathalie Pohl and Andy Donaldson collect more than €150,000 for charity with their new world record
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Marburg (ots)
Open water swimmer and Red Bull athlete Nathalie Pohl, together with her Scottish-Australian teammate Andy Donaldson, accomplished two remarkable feats yesterday: First, they circumnavigated the island of Ibiza as a relay team. Battling challenging conditions, they swam the ultra-marathon distance of 104.5 kilometers in an exhausting 30 hours, 57 minutes and 49 seconds, alternating turns throughout. Second, through their extraordinary challenge, they raised a record-breaking amount of more than €150,000 in donations for charity. Nathalie Pohl says: “I’m overwhelmed and over the moon. Not only achieving yet another world record, but also being able to share this experience with Andy makes me feel so proud and grateful. I’m so glad we made it. Especially from the third quarter of the swim onwards, we faced extremely tough conditions. The high waves, the currents, and in my case, seasickness, really took a toll on us. I won’t even start on the sleep deprivation. I’m used to swimming at night and over long distances in open water. But pushing ourselves to the limit for almost a day and a half, with only two-hour breaks in between, was something new—and absolutely exhausting. We went beyond our limits; in the final kilometers, it was sheer willpower that carried us to the finish.”
More than €150,000 raised for children’s charities
And not only that: In addition to this sensational achievement, the elite athletes also raised an outstanding amount of donations with their world record attempt. Numerous private donors, as well as companies such as Deutsche Bank, DWS, and Generali Deutschland, generously supported the duo. The funds raised will be donated by the two extreme swimmers—who have been committed to social causes for many years—to the charity organization “DVAG hilft e. V.”. Together with the organisation and the financial services company Deutsche Vermögensberatung (DVAG), Nathalie Pohl is actively involved in getting more children swimming. The amount raised will go towards projects enabling as many children as possible to learn to swim safely and correctly. Nathalie Pohl, a founding member of DVAG hilft e. V. and now a three-time world record holder, says: “I’m truly delighted that we were able to raise such a significant amount through swimming. Combining our shared passion for the sport with a world record attempt and a unique charity initiative means a great deal to me—especially because it allows us to help many children learn how to swim. This topic is very important to me, and I have been actively involved for years in getting children swimming. I’m delighted that our world record will hopefully raise awareness of this important topic.” Donations can still be made after the swim via https://www.dvag-hilft.org/ibiza-swim-challenge.
More than one day at a time in the water
It was a long and exhausting journey across the Mediterranean to achieve the record and raise the donation total. The extreme swimmers started out from the marina in Ibiza city on 2 October at 6.30 a.m. with a water temperature of around 25 °C. From there, they took the boat to Bossa beach. Just before sunrise, at 7.30 a.m. CEST (UTC+2), the swimmers entered the water together. They then took turns swimming as a relay team. Their feeding stops to take on water and food had to take place without them touching the boat. Nathalie Pohl and Andy Donaldson continued taking turns to swim even after the sun went down at 7.30 p.m. – into the darkness and right through the night. The next morning, after swimming for almost 31 hours, they reached their goal of the beach of Talamanca. Tired, but happy, they both said: “The fact that our initial idea turned into such a great success – we now not only hold the joint world record but also collected so many donations – makes us so happy. It was a very special experience and we’ll always remember being part of this project.”
Lengthy preparations and optimised planning
The preparations for this long swim were very extensive and involved spending several hours training at the pool every day, along with swims in the sea all year round. In contrast to the official organised swims, such as the Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race in Istanbul, where Nathalie Pohl completed the 6.5-kilometre swim in late August in the women’s 30–34 age category and coming first with a time of 01:05:53, this time the swimmers had to organise the whole event themselves. It was a very ambitious project: Starting with choosing the route, planning the event (taking into account temperatures and tides), booking the hotel, boats and skippers, to organising the approvals and recognition by Guinness World Records. “But it more than paid off,” the two extreme swimmers agree.
Contact:
www.nathaliepohl.de
presse@nathaliepohl.de
Original-Content von: Nathalie Pohl, übermittelt durch news aktuell
