SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- Two Cuban swimmers crossed the Strait of Gibraltarwhich separates Spain from Africa, and thus met the difficult challenge for long-distance open water swimmers.
Alexis Rodríguez Castedo, a 61-year-old Cuban naturalized Spanish citizen, and Cuban-Frenchman Arnaldo “Nino” Fraguela Paz, 62, swam across the Strait of Gibraltar on July 13, along with Spaniards José María López Sánchez and Juan Alberto Martín-Moyano Zamora, 36 years old.
The squadron left Las Palomas Island in Tarifa, Cadiz at 3:23 a.m. and the journey took four hours and 26 minutes.
During this time, they travelled 16.8 kilometres to Punta Almansa, in northern Morocco.
As explained by the press Locally, the water had an average temperature of 19.9 degrees.
Spaniard López Sánchez thus reached his fifteenth swim crossing of the Strait, and set a record validated by the Gibraltar Strait Swimming Association (ACNEG).
Fraguelafor his part, wrote on his social networks: “Strait of Gibraltar, 16.8 km in 4:26, 1:30 average every 100 meters, 4 km per hour. Second challenge for the 7 Seas of Cumplido. Next Catalina Channel.”
In a comment to the newspaper The New Heraldsaid: “Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar was much more difficult than expected.” “In addition to the aggressiveness of the waves, there were many whales, dolphins and orcas and, although they are friendly animals, it is preferable not to approach them to avoid accidents.”
Fraguela and Rodríguez thus became the first Cubans to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar in the category wearing swimwear. Previously, their compatriot José Cortinas had done so on August 8, 1949.
Nino Fraguelaa graduate in Biochemistry from Havana and a great defender of the environment, has lived in France since he was 28. He lives there with his wife and two daughters.
At the end of July 2018, he managed to complete the Enduroman, considered the most difficult triathlon in the world, as it involves swimming across the English Channel.
For this competition he started by running 144 kilometres from London to the English coast of Dover. From there he swam 47 kilometres to the French coast, crossing the Channel. He then cycled 300 kilometres to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Nino thus became the first Cuban, and the only one so far, to swim across the English Channel. He also set a world record for the oldest person to have done so.
For one of his personal challenges, in 2017, he swam 25 kilometers, without a cage, in waters where sharks abound, including dangerous bull sharks.
To achieve the World Triple Crown of Swimming, Fraguela will also swim in shark-infested waters. He will have to swim the stretch between Catalina Island and Long Beach, California; as the last phase of this title. The first was in September 2021, where he also crossed the English Channel, with the added merit of having done so with only a swimsuit, in sea temperatures between 15 and 16 degrees, when triathletes generally cross it with a wetsuit, to protect the body from the cold.
For the second stage, in March 2022, he swam across all 21 Manhattan bridges, spanning 47 kilometers.
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