Hi Everyone! I'm organizing a crossing of the Strait of Messina in August 2004. The Strait of Messina is between Calabria and Sicily, Italy. The swim is approximately 3.3KM, but there are strong currents. We're organizing the swim with all the safety bells and whistles required by law, and by common sense. We've got a website up at: members.xoom.virgilio.it/.../, but we're still working on it. I'll be tranlating it in English soon too. The date is still unsure because given the strong tide currents, we want to calculate it according to the moon phases to have the smoothest ride.
So, if anyone's interested, send me an email, and I'll let you know more details as they come up. This should be fun!
Mary
Parents
Former Member
This is a note to share my joy that on Sunday August 8th 2004, a dream of mine came true. I swam, together with 9 other swimmers, across the Strait of Messina.
The Strait of Messina is not a particularly long swim, in fact it is only 3.3KM (which for a long-distance swimmer is a “hop”). However, it is characterized by strong currents, and changes in tides every 8 hours. In addition, there is heavy shipping traffic through the channel, making the crossing particularly dangerous. In fact, it is VERY difficult to get permission to do the swim. It is required that a boat accompany each swimmer, the local ports are advised so that the shipping traffic is stopped during the swim, ambulances must be present, and there must be an MD aboard one of the accompanying boats.
I’ll tell you, it was a big job to organize it all. In fact, final authorization came through only the day before the swim.
My dream was made particularly special by the fact that 2 of the athletes, Mario Balli (58 years old) and Antonio Petraliti (61 years old), are paraplegic, and swim using only the power of their arms.
We all had big smiles on our faces upon our arrival to the other side!
I apologize to anyone who was planning on joining us on this swim... since it was SO difficult to get all the burocratic side working, I decided not to encourage anyone who had to make a long trip to do it. I didn't want to risk you buying a ticket, just to find that the whole thing was a let down.
I’m already planning to organize the crossing for next summer though, so start training now! I'll post a new message once I've set the date... and this time it will be planned far in advance so that everyone who wants to can make it.
Or, just come along for the ride! It's a beautiful one!
Mary Lokken
Florence Italy
This is a note to share my joy that on Sunday August 8th 2004, a dream of mine came true. I swam, together with 9 other swimmers, across the Strait of Messina.
The Strait of Messina is not a particularly long swim, in fact it is only 3.3KM (which for a long-distance swimmer is a “hop”). However, it is characterized by strong currents, and changes in tides every 8 hours. In addition, there is heavy shipping traffic through the channel, making the crossing particularly dangerous. In fact, it is VERY difficult to get permission to do the swim. It is required that a boat accompany each swimmer, the local ports are advised so that the shipping traffic is stopped during the swim, ambulances must be present, and there must be an MD aboard one of the accompanying boats.
I’ll tell you, it was a big job to organize it all. In fact, final authorization came through only the day before the swim.
My dream was made particularly special by the fact that 2 of the athletes, Mario Balli (58 years old) and Antonio Petraliti (61 years old), are paraplegic, and swim using only the power of their arms.
We all had big smiles on our faces upon our arrival to the other side!
I apologize to anyone who was planning on joining us on this swim... since it was SO difficult to get all the burocratic side working, I decided not to encourage anyone who had to make a long trip to do it. I didn't want to risk you buying a ticket, just to find that the whole thing was a let down.
I’m already planning to organize the crossing for next summer though, so start training now! I'll post a new message once I've set the date... and this time it will be planned far in advance so that everyone who wants to can make it.
Or, just come along for the ride! It's a beautiful one!
Mary Lokken
Florence Italy
