- I swam 13 hours and 17 minutes - says Ola, and when asked about the distance in the water, she adds - In a straight line it is 36 km, but due to the currents the route is longer. I suppose I swam about 40-45 km, but I don't know it exactly yet.
Ola Bednarek is a student of Lodz University of Technology in the field of Biomedical Engineering. She is at the second cycle of studies which she takes very seriously - like open water swimming and winter swimming, which she also practises.
Earlier, in 2018, Ola was the first Polish woman to cross the Catalina Channel, being part of the Crown of Oceans. She covered 34 km in just over 12 hours. As a result of this achievement, the World Open Water Swimming Association nominated this extraordinary girl for the prestigious Woman of the Year award, which she won by defeating 15 rivals for the title. She said then - The nomination itself was a surprise to me, because it was the first time that a Polish swimmer was nominated in this ranking. I felt satisfaction and, at the same time, motivated to take up new challenges.
The next challenge was to swim around Manhattan Island in New York (USA). Ola, taking part in an event called by the Americans 20 Bridges Swim, covered over 46.5 km in the waters of the Hudson River. It was the third time in the marathon in which 16 participants took part.
Speaking about her latest achievement, Ola mentions the promising start of crossing the Channel and the unfavourable currents that appeared 10 kilometres from the French coast. Our swimmer will describe the details on her website https://wplawprzezswiat.pl/. She is returning to Poland on Friday.