Location
Strait of Gibraltar, Spain to Morocco
Date
August 1, 2002
Distance
14 km
About This Swim
I attempted this swim between Spain and Morocco on the 30th of July 2002 and I got off to a good start. This swim is 14 kms long, but after a good start, the conditions quickly changed and the tides changed and I was not making the progress that I shold have been making and as this is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world you cant afford to be making any errors. After a while it was determined that I would not make it to Morocco and the observer pulled me out of the water and for the first time in my swimming career I had not completed an open water swim and I found this hard to take. But with the great presence of my team, I was given another chance 2 days later on the 1st of August 2002 and this time I knew that I would need to swim very well to beat the tides and this time I did beat the tides and after 4 hour and 51 minutes I completed the swim of 14 kms . This swim is not only swimming between 2 countries but swimming between 2 continents which is quite amazing. Swimming from Europe to Africa. I was very delighted to have completed the swim on my second attempt and for all of the efforts of my team to have given me another chance of completing the swim. I was the first blind person to complete the swim and the first Australian to complete the swim.
The Strait of Gibraltar is one of the world's most strategic and challenging waterways, connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. In 2002, James Pittar became the first Australian to swim across this historic strait from Spain to Morocco.
This swim presented unique challenges including strong currents created by the meeting of two major bodies of water, heavy shipping traffic, and the psychological challenge of swimming between two continents. As the first blind person to complete this swim, James demonstrated exceptional courage and determination.