Colima’s Pouleth Carbajal swims the English Channel

Pouleth Carbajal, a 24-year-old swimmer from Colima, Mexico, has made history by becoming the first person from her state to complete a solo English Channel crossing. The 14-hour swim, which spanned 65.3 kilometers (40.6 miles), saw Carbajal leave Shakespeare Beach near Dover, England, on Sunday at 2:12 a.m. and reach the dunes at Wissant, France, later that afternoon.

The shortest distance between England and France is 21 miles in a straight line, but ocean currents extended Carbajal's route beyond the channel's narrowest distance. Coached by Sandra Venegas Ortiz, Carbajal was supported by her mother Gabriela Cuero and an observer, Karina Almanza, a fellow Mexican swimmer who also completed the English Channel in 2018.

While her swim awaits official ratification, the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation (CS&PF) described it as an "unofficial success" and congratulated Carbajal on her accomplishment. The Manzanillo municipal government hailed her achievement as a source of pride for Manzanillo, emphasizing that discipline, preparation, and determination can help individuals achieve great challenges.

The English Channel is renowned for its open-water swimming endurance tests, with swimmers facing cold water, tides, currents, and busy shipping lanes. The CS&PF database records 3,384 solo channel swims by 2,728 swimmers, with an average successful crossing time of approximately 13 hours, 34 minutes. Carbajal's swim would make her the 88th Mexican to successfully complete the channel crossing.