On a trek from England to France across the English Channel, only one person can say they are the fastest South American ever to do it. That someone is Brazilian Olympic Champion Ana Marcela Cunha, who completed the swim in 8 hours and 25 minutes.
Back in October, Cunha shared that her 2026 goal revolved around this swim, which is considered one of the “Ocean Seven,” which is comprised of seven swims across seven channels, unassisted.
Ocean Seven Swims:
- English Channel, between England and France.
- Catalina Channel between Catalina Island and the California mainland.
- Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco.
- North Channel between Ireland and Scotland.
- Molokai Channel between Molokai and Oahu, Hawaii.
- Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
- Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan.
Cunha entered the water around 5:00 am local time to complete the 33-kilometer swim (20.5 miles). Her final time of 8 hours and 25 minutes marked a new South American Record across both men’s and women’s swimmers.
The first South American woman to cross the channel was back in 1951 when Enriqueta Duarte finished the swim in 16 hours and 33 minutes. The fastest South American swimmer ever to cross the English Channel before Cunha’s swim was in 2019 when Chilean Barbara Hernandez completed the swim in 12 hours and 13 minutes. Cunha now becomes the 6th South American to complete the English Channel swim.
Cunha is a seven time world champion in open water, with her world championships spanning from 2011 to 2022, including world championship golds in both the 5km and 25km in both 2019 and 2022. She secured Olympic golf in Tokyo, winning the 10 km open water race.
The fastest women’s time ever came from Yvetta Hlavacova of the Czech Republic, who completed the swim in 7 hours and 25 minutes.
In October, Cunha told World Aquatics that the longer the distance, the better she swims.
“I feel better when I swim more distance, long distance, so I’m happy to be doing the English Channel,” Cunha told World Aquatics. “It’s just me and myself, my mind, it’s not a competition with anyone else. It’s my race, I put this in my mind, so I think that it’s a great time to do it.”
