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Meet First Muslim, Oldest Man to Swim across North Channel
9-04-2019
The North Channel is known to be one of the seven most difficult routes which connects the Irish Sea with the Atlantic Ocean.
But a Turkish swimmer has made a breakthrough, becoming the first Muslim and the oldest man in the world to swim across the channel, Daily Sabah reported.
Kamil Alsaran, who became the first Turkish person to swim across the English Channel in 2015, swam across the North Channel on July 29, Demirören News Agency reported.
It took the 58-year-old man 13 hours and 55 minutes to complete the solo journey.
Alsaran said he experienced a number of difficulties during the swim, including cold water and deadly jellyfish and other sea creatures.
“Swimming across 35 kilometers, I’ve seen at least 200 or 300 jellyfish,” Alsaran said, noting that he tried his best to not touch them.
Alsaran’s wife, son, and friends accompanied him on a boat as he swam across the channel, while four of his friends joined him by swimming together for the last 400 meters.
The North Channel swim is approximately the same distance as the English Channel, but it has two major differences.
The first is the sea temperature, which can be 3-5 degrees lower and the second is the hundreds of Lions Mane jellyfish which plague the Channel during the summer months and are for the most part unavoidable.
It was not until 1947 that the Channel was first conquered by Englishman Tom Blower from Nottingham, with a time of 15 hours 26 minutes.
There were many more successful solo swims over the years, too many to mention in this short history, but all great feats of endurance and worthy of the highest praise.
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