CNN
—
When Barbara Hernandez used to be swimming for greater than 35 kilometers around the North Channel, the strait between Northern Ireland and Scotland, the freezing waters and strong currents had been the least of her considerations.
That stretch of water is populated by way of lion’s mane jellyfish, that are a few of the greatest identified species of jellyfish on the earth with tentacles stretching 30 meters lengthy. Though now not fatal to people, their stings pack a punch and will go away sufferers in ache for a number of hours.
During her swim, Hernandez knew it used to be extremely most likely that she would come into touch with those jellyfish within the murky waters.
“There were a lot of the jellyfish, I suffered,” Hernandez recollects, keeping up the everlasting grin she has when speaking about swimming. “In the ultimate phase [of the swim] I touched so much, it used to be very painful.
“When I swam off Molokai Island in Hawaii, I were given stung by way of the person o’ struggle, probably the most bad ‘jellyfish’ on the earth, and it used to be painful, however this [the lion’s man] used to be such a lot worse. For two days after the swim my pores and skin used to be nonetheless on hearth.
“Of course it was scary in the beginning, but in the end it was amazing because it’s the opportunity for us in South America, for me and my team in Chile, it’s the opportunity to prove your limits and that is amazing. I love that.”
After swimming for 12 hours within the freezing water, which additionally incorporated navigating fog and torrential rain, Hernandez says her ft had grew to become totally blue.
It takes an excessively explicit roughly mindset for any individual to willfully put themselves via a tribulation like that, however Hernandez’s swim used to be a part of an established ambition she has to turn into the primary particular person to swim portions of all of the international’s seven oceans.
Hernandez has finished 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 Cook Strait in New Zealand adopted by way of the Tsugaru Strait in Japan, which she targets to finish in 2023.
Hernandez has already damaged numerous swimming international information, together with the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) record for being the primary particular person to swim 3 nautical miles (5.5 km) between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Guinness World Record for finishing the quickest ocean mile swim during the Drake Passage in southern Chile, thought to be to be a few of the most threatening waters on the earth.
In 2020, Hernandez’s bold feats of staying power noticed her named the WOWSA Woman Of The Year.
Hernandez’s love of swimming started the primary time she were given right into a pool on the age of six.
For 15 years she competed at nationwide and global degree in her house nation of Chile, however quickly after she came upon open water swimming which might temporarily turn into her true hobby.
Growing up within the Chilean capital, Santiago, there used to be no instant get entry to to the ocean, lakes or lagoons, however Hernandez would ceaselessly power 120 km (74.5 miles) to the coast to get her chilly water repair.
Nicknamed the ‘Ice Mermaid,’ Hernandez may be a certified psychologist, one thing she says has been an important to her luck in those excessive demanding situations, with psychological preparation for a grueling swim being simply as vital because the bodily.
“I train in my mind in the same fashion as my body,” she explains. “I do know the significance of hanging a reputation on your fears, desires and your passions and dealing for them. Two years ahead of my [North Channel] swim, I used to be already making ready for it in my thoughts.
“Most people are very scared about hypothermia, the cold or the pain and, for me, that is the prize. If I want to be the first South American, the first woman or the first whatever, I need to be prepared for to pay the price and the price is your commitment, your training, your focus on your mind and, of course, your health and your body.”
With hypothermia posing an excessively actual threat each time Hernandez undertakes considered one of her demanding situations, the restoration straight away in a while – which contains wrapping up in her specifically designed Dryrobe adopted by way of heat showers – is solely as vital because the preparation.
While her swim around the Drake Passage is the only Hernandez says she is maximum pleased with, she categories her swim around the Chungara Lake in northern Chile to be her most threatening. At 14,820 ft above sea degree, it is one of the absolute best lakes on the earth and the loss of oxygen at that altitude can pose even higher dangers.
Several of her swims have taken position in waters round glaciers, in particular within the south of Chile, with the hope of elevating consciousness across the have an effect on of local weather trade.
“That is my passion,” she says. “Not the medals or the risk to be the primary lady from Chile or South America [to break a record].
“That is my alternative to speak on social media and in addition with the clicking and say: ‘Come on, are we are working for the environment or not?’ How are we able to be helpful for every other technology to seem after our seas or fauna, and in addition for the jellyfish and the sharks as it’s the house of those animals and those fish?
“Me, a swimmer, I’m just visiting.”
Hernandez has been running with the Chilean army as she prepares for her subsequent problem in Antarctica, the place she is hoping to boost consciousness concerning the have an effect on of air pollution at the atmosphere.
Following that, she is going to proceed on her quest to swim the seven seas with demanding situations within the Tsugaru Straits in northern Japan and the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand, thought to be one of the unpredictable stretches on the earth.
But regardless of how chilly or densely populated with jellyfish the waters are, Hernandez most likely will nonetheless face those demanding situations with a smile.
