Guided by Giovanni
When I look at a map, I don't see countries or borders, I see
water I can swim across. Channels, straits. I want to swim them
all.
So when I heard about the swim across the Strait of Messina, the
stretch of water between Sicily and mainland Italy, I was
immediately taken. Not because it's a long or particularly
difficult swim, it's only 5km, but because of the history and
because of Giovanni.
No matter how confident a swimmer you are, a swim like this
needs a guide. Someone local to the area who knows the tides and
can supply support boats. For the small group of swimmers that
descended upon Sicily, that guide was Giovanni.
As a former record holder, Giovanni knows his stuff. We just
don't speak the same language.
After taking a plane, a bus and a ferry, we finally found him
waiting for us by the side of the road. We accompanied him back to
his house where his wife fed us homemade cake and his son roughly
translated what we needed to know about the tides and the
whirlpool.
Some members of the group had never done an open water swim
before and I could tell they were nervous. But Giovanni takes it
all very seriously which soon put them at ease. And once we looked
over to Italy and got in to the water, so blue and calm and so
warm, the scenery so beautiful, everyone relaxed into it.
I finished the 5km swim first but could see that a few of the
group were getting tired and struggling as the tide swelled. So I
got into my support boat and went out and joined them in the water.
I swim alone so often, it was an amazing feeling to share the water
with new friends.
So while it's incredible to be able to look at a map and think,
I've swum that, the real joy of outdoor swimming comes from the
people, like Giovanni, that you share the journey with.