Barbara Hernandez: Swimmer dubbed the 'Ice Mermaid' takes on problem to swim the Seven Seas

Muricas News  — 

When Barbara Hernandez was swimming for greater than 35 kilometers throughout the North Channel, the strait between Northern Eire and Scotland, the freezing waters and highly effective currents had been the least of her issues.

That stretch of water is populated by lion’s mane jellyfish, that are among the many largest identified species of jellyfish on this planet with tentacles stretching 30 meters lengthy. Although not lethal to people, their stings pack a punch and might go away victims in ache for a number of hours.

Throughout her swim, Hernandez knew it was extremely seemingly that she would come into contact with these jellyfish within the murky waters.

“There have been a lot of the jellyfish, I suffered,” Hernandez recollects, sustaining the everlasting grin she has when speaking about swimming. “Within the final half [of the swim] I touched lots, it was very painful.

“After I swam off Molokai Island in Hawaii, I bought stung by the person o’ warfare, probably the most harmful ‘jellyfish’ on this planet, and it was painful, however this [the lion’s man] was a lot worse. For 2 days after the swim my pores and skin was nonetheless on hearth.

“After all it was scary to start with, however ultimately it was wonderful as a result of it’s the chance for us in South America, for me and my staff in Chile, it’s the chance to show your limits and that's wonderful. I really like that.”

After swimming for 12 hours within the freezing water, which additionally included navigating fog and torrential rain, Hernandez says her ft had turned utterly blue.

It takes a really explicit type of mindset for any individual to willfully put themselves by way of an ordeal like that, however Hernandez’s swim was a part of a longtime ambition she has to change into the primary individual to swim components of all of the world’s seven oceans.

Hernandez has accomplished her swim within the Strait of Gibraltar, the Catalina Channel, the English Channel, the Molokai Channel and the North Channel.

Her subsequent problem would be the Prepare dinner Strait in New Zealand adopted by the Tsugaru Strait in Japan, which she goals to finish in 2023.

Hernandez has already damaged various swimming world information, together with the World Open Water Swimming Affiliation (WOWSA) report for being the primary individual to swim three nautical miles (5.5 km) between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Guinness World Document for finishing the quickest ocean mile swim by way of the Drake Passage in southern Chile, thought-about to be among the many most harmful waters on this planet.

In 2020, Hernandez’s daring feats of endurance noticed her named the WOWSA Girl Of The Yr.

Hernandez’s love of swimming started the primary time she bought right into a pool on the age of six.

For 15 years she competed at nationwide and worldwide stage in her dwelling nation of Chile, however quickly after she found open water swimming which might shortly change into her true ardour.

Rising up within the Chilean capital, Santiago, there was no fast entry to the ocean, lakes or lagoons, however Hernandez would repeatedly drive 120 km (74.5 miles) to the coast to get her chilly water repair.

Nicknamed the ‘Ice Mermaid,’ Hernandez can also be a professional psychologist, one thing she says has been essential to her success in these excessive challenges, with psychological preparation for a grueling swim being simply as vital because the bodily.

“I practice in my thoughts in the identical style as my physique,” she explains. “I do know the significance of placing a reputation to your fears, goals and your passions and dealing for them. Two years earlier than my [North Channel] swim, I used to be already making ready for it in my thoughts.

“Most individuals are very scared about hypothermia, the chilly or the ache and, for me, that's the prize. If I wish to be the primary South American, the primary lady or the primary no matter, I should be ready for to pay the value and the value is your dedication, your coaching, your focus in your thoughts and, after all, your well being and your physique.”

With hypothermia posing a really actual hazard each time Hernandez undertakes one in every of her challenges, the restoration instantly afterward – which incorporates wrapping up in her specifically designed Dryrobe adopted by heat showers – is simply as vital because the preparation.

Whereas her swim throughout the Drake Passage is the one Hernandez says she is most happy with, she lessons her swim throughout the Chungara Lake in northern Chile to be her most harmful. At 14,820 ft above sea stage, it's among the many highest lakes on this planet and the shortage of oxygen at that altitude can pose even higher dangers.

A number of of her swims have taken place in waters round glaciers, notably within the south of Chile, with the hope of elevating consciousness across the impression of local weather change.

“That's my ardour,” she says. “Not the medals or the prospect to be the primary lady from Chile or South America [to break a record].

“That's my alternative to speak on social media and likewise with the press and say: ‘Come on, are we're working for the surroundings or not?’ How can we be helpful for one more era to take care of our seas or fauna, and likewise for the jellyfish and the sharks as a result of it’s the house of those animals and these fish?

“Me, a swimmer, I’m simply visiting.”

Hernandez has been working with the Chilean navy as she prepares for her subsequent problem in Antarctica, the place she is hoping to lift consciousness in regards to the impression of air pollution on the surroundings.

Following that, she's going to proceed on her quest to swim the seven seas with challenges within the Tsugaru Straits in northern Japan and the Prepare dinner Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand, thought-about one of the crucial unpredictable stretches on this planet.

However regardless of how chilly or densely populated with jellyfish the waters are, Hernandez seemingly will nonetheless face these challenges with a smile.