Alessandra Cima Rossi Becomes First Brazilian to Swim Bonifacio Straits
Alessandra Cima Rossi Becomes First Brazilian to Swim Bonifacio Straits
Water World Swim athlete continues series of strong performances by the team internationally
Sardinia, ITALY--July 4, 2017--Water World Swim, the international open water swimming experts, today proudly announces Alessandra Cima Rossi, a Brazilian swimmer from Dubai, has completed the crossing of Bonifacio Strait from Sardinia (Italy) to the French coast of the island of Corsica. The swim took 5 hours and 24 minutes to cover a distance of 16.75 km (10.4 mi) from the beach of Rena Bianca, Sardinia (Italy), to the beach of Punta Sperone, Corsica (France). The crossing was overseen by Italian captain Tomasso Muntoni.
The crossing began at 7:35 am from the side of Sardinia, Italy. During this morning, the calm currents and the absence of wind announced a good day. After two hours of calm and constant swimming, Alessandra found some difficulties because the wind from the north, the "grecale", began to stir the waters. In addition the currents coming from the same direction pushed her off course.
"I felt a bit dizzy and sick at times," Alessandra said. "I was worried about keeping the time I had in mind (4 hours and a half), I even thought about giving up. But then I relaxed, I stopped worrying about getting there at the planned time and I only worried about swimming and reaching the finish line. That gave me the strength to move on and finish."
Alessandra is 42 years old and mother of an 8 year old son. She began her adventures in swimming at the age of 13 years in native Brazil, acquiring elementary knowledge on the swimming pool. From a very young age, reaching long distances of swimming was something for her more important than anything else. During her university career, she participated in a water polo team and in a 3-kilometer open water race at Paranoá Lake in Brazil. After that event, swimming in the pool became something "secondary". The strait of Bonifacio has become Alessandra's first great experience in this type of challenges. She is also preparing for the Bosphorus Cross Continental Swimming race on 23 July, and will cross the English Channel in 2018.
"Alessandra is a very determined 'swimming mum' as she calls herself," said Water World Swim Head Coach Pedro Ordenes. "She faced many difficulties because of the greyscale wind coming from the north that made the water extremely choppy, but she persevered and inspired all of us. I am very proud of Alessandra and her accomplishment and look forward to celebrating the many more swimming achievements she will have in the near future."
The swimming crosses of Bonifacio, along with the crosses in the Strait of Messina, are part of the excellent swimming season organized and supervised by the Water World Swim team in Mediterranean lands, represented by Water World Swim, Coach Alessandro Gottardi, an ASCA coach ( American Swim Coaches Assoc.) Water World Swim donated funds collected for this swim to L'Aquilone Onlus, a non-profit organization that helps children who are on social risk or handicapped.
The international family of Water World Swim wishes to congratulate Alessandra and wish her success in her future challenges, and congratulate all the technical support of our team in Italy and to all who made this crossing a new success.