This woman just made history by swimming 30 miles through shark-infested waters
We have a new life hero and her name is Kim Chambers. As SFGATE reports, this 38-year-old swimmer just became the first woman to swim the 30 miles from Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco, California, to the city’s Golden Gate Bridge in 17 hours and 12 minutes. Note that this is no ordinary 30-mile swim (though, to be fair, is there an “ordinary 30-mile swim”?), but rather, it is one of the world’s most dangerous crossings due to its population of great white sharks. That’s right, Chambers spent the better part of the day swimming 30-miles through SHARK-INFESTED WATERS. See what we mean about being a life-hero? We would love to have that kind of strength and courage. Of course, we maybe wouldn’t want to put those qualities to the test by swimming alongside, you know, 2000-pound creatures that sometimes like to eat people, but still, we absolutely admire this lady’s bravery and we applaud this incredible accomplishment.
Chambers backstory is about as amazing as death-defying feat. Chambers was, at one time, a classical ballerina, but after a freak accident in 2007, her leg was almost amputated and doctors told her she had a 1% chance of walking unassisted again. Chambers spent 2 years rehabilitating her leg. Swimming became a part of her physical therapy. Eventually Chambers became an open-water swimmer. As she says on her website, she now considers her injury the best thing that ever happened to her.
That all said, this swim was no simple feat feat, and there were times when Chambers absolutely wanted to throw in the towel (swimming pun intended, of course). “I knew if I touched the boat, the swim would be over,” Chambers told SFGATE. “I had to dig really deep to keep going. But when I saw the Golden Gate Bridge, I knew I couldn’t give up.”
The boat she’s referring to is the boat her coach and crew were on, riding alongside her, tossing her food she was having trouble keeping down. However, she managed to dig deep enough to find the strength to completed her extraordinary swim.
I’m shocked,” Chambers said once she got to the dock. “I want this honor but I knew it was up to Mother Nature. It’s going to take me a long time to process this. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”
Hugest congratulations to Kim Chambers for achieving this remarkable goal and inspiring us all to dig deep and be our strongest and bravest selves.
Related:
Diana Nyad becomes the first person to swim unprotected from Cuba to Florida
Three black women made history this week at the NCAA swimming championships
