Chloë McCardel (born 10 May 1985) is an open water swimmer and swim coach from

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

Swims

McCardel's past swims include forty-four solo crossings of the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, including eight crossings in one season and three crossings in one week, three double-crossings in 2010, 2012 and 2017 and, in 2015, the fourth person to do a non-stop triple-crossing. She also won the 28.5-mile (46-kilometer)

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Island Marathon Swim in 2010. As of 2021, she holds the world record for the longest unassisted ocean swim, at 124.4 km.

Australian record

On 22 October 2016 McCardel completed her 20th solo swim across the English Channel. She set a new Australian crossing record, taking the previous record from Des Renford. On 15 August 2020, she completed her 35th swim of the English Channel.

World record

On 22 October 2014 McCardel completed an unprecedented swim from South Eleuthera Island to

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

. 124.4 kilometers (77.3 miles) in 41 hours, 21 minutes. She set a new world record, longest unassisted ocean swim, conducted under the "Rules of Marathon Swimming". This swim was officially ratified by the Marathon Swimming Federation (MSF). The Rules of Marathon Swimming are a globally-endorsed framework of rules and guidelines for any swim in any body of water. The Documented Swims program offers a venue for publishing documentation and requesting peer-reviewed ratification of independent marathon swims. She also won the 2014 MSF "Solo Swim of the Year" (Female) for this World Record swim. On 13 October 2021, she completed her 44th crossing of the English Channel, giving her the title Queen of the Channel. She surpassed the number of crossings by the previous Queen of the Channel,

Alison Streeter Alison Jane Streeter Order of the British Empire, MBE is a British long-distance swimmer. Biography Streeter has swum across the English Channel 43 times, the most crossings done by an individual until surpassed by Chloe McCardel on 13 October ...

Record attempt

On 12 June 2013, she attempted to be the first person to swim across the

Straits of Florida The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait () is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys (U.S.) an ...

from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

without using the protection of a

shark cage Shark cage diving is underwater diving or snorkeling where the observer remains inside a protective cage designed to prevent sharks from making contact with the divers. Shark cage diving is used for scientific observation, underwater cinematograph ...

. She also did not wear a stinger suit or a

wet suit A wetsuit is a garment worn to provide thermal protection while wet. It is usually made of foamed neoprene, and is worn by surfing, surfers, Underwater diving, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports and other activit ...

. This swim was done to raise funds for three charities; the

CanTeen Canteen most often refers to: * Canteen (bottle), a water container * Cafeteria, a type of food service location within an institution in which there is little or no waiting staff table service * A complete set of cutlery comprising knives, forks, ...

, Can Assist and

Swim Across America Swim Across America Inc., (SAA) is a nonprofit dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention, and treatment. It does so by hosting charity swims and donating the proceeds to a hospital. Since its founding, SAA has gr ...

. McCardel had a 32-person support team that included weather experts and doctors that accompanied her throughout her trip, which was to last about 55–65 hours. She was to eat and drink every half hour. After 11 hours, McCardel stopped her record swim attempt after she was severely stung by multiple

box jellyfish Box jellyfish (class Cubozoa) are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their box-like (i.e., cube-shaped) body. Some species of box jellyfish produce potent venom delivered by contact with their tentacles. Stings from some species, including ' ...

and was in too much pain to continue. She was taken to

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

and was treated for the stings.

Coaching

Across June/July 2015, McCardel, with the support of her team, coached seven relay teams and three solo swimmers (44 swimmers in total) to swim the English Channel. Two of these relays were from the Geelong Grammar School (Victoria, Australia). Geelong were part of the "Channel Conquerors" program which also featured two school age Relay teams from The Arch Academy (San Diego, USA) – coached by Dan Simonelli. In 2014, she coached and crewed 2x relays to swim the English Channel. These swimmers raised over US$125 000 for a cancer charity –

. In July 2015, she also coached and crewed one of the 2014 English Channel relay fundraisers, Grant Wentworth, to swim between Cape Cod and Nantucket (USA) and, in doing so, raising $150 000 for Swim Across America.

Awards

Channel Swimming Association (CSA) *2018 CSA Fastest swim on the highest tide *2017 CSA Fastest 2 way swim *2016 CSA Gold medal for the fastest swim of the year in 8 hours 51 minutes *2016 CSA Sotiraki trophy for the fastest swim by a lady in 8 hours 51 minutes *2016 CSA Belhedi trophy for the swim on the highest tide *2016 CSA Most solo crossings in a season in history with 8 crossings *2016 Inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame *2015 Marathon Swimmers Federation solo swim of the year award for the most outstanding solo marathon swim of 2015 (Three-way English Channel swim. 63 miles (101.4 km) in 36 hours, 12 minutes) *2015 CSA Oldman trophy for the British Long Distance Swimming Association swimmer of the year *2015 CSA Mark Rickhuss trophy for the fastest 2 way swim in 22 hours 42 minutes *2015 CSA Captain Webb trophy for the fastest 3 way swim in 36 hours 12 minutes *2015 CSA Sotiraki trophy for the fastest swim by a lady in 8 hours 52 minutes *2015 CSA Van Audenaerde trophy for the greatest feat of endurance *2015 CSA Rosemary George trophy for the most meritorious swim of the year *2014 Marathon Swimmers Federation solo swim of the year award for the most outstanding solo marathon swim of 2014 (Unprecedented swim from South Eleuthera Island to Nassau, Bahamas. 124.4 kilometers (77.3 miles) in 41 hours, 21 minutes. New world record, longest unassisted ocean swim.) *2014 CSA Sotirake trophy for the fastest swim by a lady 9 hours 12 minutes *2012 CSA Gold medal for fastest swim of the year 9 hours 30 minutes *2012 CSA Sotirake trophy for the fastest swim by a lady 9 hours 30 minutes *2012 CSA Mark Rickhuss trophy for the fastest two-way swim 19 hours 20 minutes *2011 CSA Gold medal for fastest swim of the year 9 hours 3 minutes *2011 CSA Sotirake trophy for fastest swim by a lady 9 hours 3 minutes *2010 Nomination for open water swimming performance of the year on (Openwatersource.com) *2010 CSA Mark Rickhuss memorial trophy (Fastest solo two-way swim of the year) 21 hours 48 minutes *2010 The Van Audenaerde trophy for greatest feat of endurance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCardel, Chloe Living people 1985 births Australian female swimmers Female long-distance swimmers English Channel swimmers Australian female freestyle swimmers Swimmers from Melbourne Manhattan Island swimmers