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Quito, EFE
The Ecuadorian Sara Palacios swam thirteen hours in a row to cross the English Channel known by the athletes as "Everest de las aguas", traveling 42 kilometers who left tears of despair mixed with others of joy and satisfaction.
It was eleven o'clock on the night of July 11th when Palacios, 32 years old was leaving the shores of England, in sight of those of France, to complete the first stage of the project "Free waters, seven seas" with which he seeks to exceed his own limits and motivate people to
Although there are 33 kilometers in a straight line of the Channel, Palacios had to swim 42 (due to the tide effect) with a few stops – the longest 2 minutes – to hydrate or eat carbohydrates in gel.
"There was no shark attack or anything (…) I bit a little jellyfish," he tells Efe, pointing out that did not leave the water during the thirteen hours, whose temperature ranged between 14 and 15 degrees
The Mancha is the busiest channel in the world, so on her way saw several merchant ships and sightseeing among other ships, but the closest was that of her parents and her husband, as well as a judge of the project approved by the l 39; World Association of Open Water Swimming.
The rules of travel prohibited him from approaching the boat or being stopped, that the hydration (at a certain temperature) and the food, came to him in baskets tied to ropes.
But from this boat not only came out the food for her body, but for the soul with messages that her father wrote on a blackboard: "Value", "Trust", "We are proud s "," We support you ", she read between braces and accolades.
His father also made drawings that represented his family, graphics that made him tears in his eyes, but also gave him the courage to travel I felt disappointed, although had never thought of giving up because "it was not an option", he points out
The painting also had informative data: the time, the distance needed to reach the coast. they stopped doing it because it was a little frustrating "to see that even though he was swimming and swimming, the goal was still far away, he remembers
with the water in the four cardinal directions and the slit lips, Palacios thought "in many things and nothing at the same time" to deceive the fatigue: he sang for hours the chorus of a song which he does not even remember anymore, he thought to his daughter Manuela, 8 years old, and he imagined his grandmother in his distant Ecuador 19659003] And even "cooked": "As I am a chef I also like to cook, I start to remember the recipe and in my head I start to prepare the dish, "says Palacio, aware that mental games are strategies to avoid thoughts of cold, tiredness and animals. Block, summarizes.
But, in parallel, his brain was alert on where he was, the time and the rhythm of swimming. "This concentration is not lost," says Palacios with an easy word and a generous smile.
From 1.65 meters tall and 68 kilos, Palacios learned to swim at age six and at age eight he participated in children's tournaments which he reached to miners and later to the master category, which took it quite by Brazil, Cuba, Switzerland, Peru, Chile and Argentina.
Now, with the Channel in the drawer of the challenges encountered, is preparing to cross the Strait of Gibraltar which separates Europe and Africa, and the Strait of Catalina between Catalina Island and California.
project the "Seven Seas", which culminated 6 people in the world and inspired by the challenge of the "Seven Summits" for climbers, will carry it until 2021 to cross the Cook Strait , New Zealand, and Tsugaru Channel, between Honshu and Hokkaido islands, Japan.
In addition, the North Channel, between and Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the Molakai Cbad, between the Oahu and Molakai Islands in Hawaii, an adventure for which it calculates will require approximately $ 60,000 in total 12,000 ] to become the first Ecuadorian to cross the English Channel.
"I'm still tired, I have a little pain (in the arms and back) but it's normal" says shortly before diving into a pool in Quito , with the agility of a fish in the water and the illusion of having challenges to fulfill because he admits that he does not have any problems. There are no challenges in the file, it loses concentration.
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