This post is part of my #makingwaves series – intrepid and inspirational women with an uplifting story to tell.

“What? You’re saying you’ve actually swam the channel?” I exclaimed. “All of it? From Dover to Calais?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Twice.”

My mouth dropped open. She beamed modestly as I stood on the beach, gawping somewhat dorkily at her. Mid-March and we’d been blessed with crisp evening sunlight. The sea was a lustrous navy blue, the waves harmonious. The sun was slowly sinking behind the White Cliffs of Dover, washing the shingle with golden shards. The setting was sublime.

Heroes come in unexpected forms. Seemingly ordinary people do extraordinary things and that’s why Abejali Bernardová stepped into my life last week, to remind me of exactly that. That is, after all, what the #makingwavesproject is all about.

It was a perfect example of serendipity that Abhejali noticed my appeal for intrepid and inspirational women whilst at home in the Czech Republic, preparing to fly to England for the annual Channel Swimmers’ dinner, and realised we were about to become geographically compatible.

“I love your project,” she wrote, “and your passion for the sea! I would really love to participate. My flight lands at lunchtime on Friday. Can you do the evening and can I wear my sari?”

Obviously I said yes to both!

It turned out that swimming the Channel a couple of times didn’t even scratch the surface of Abhejali’s achievements. In 2018 she became the first person from a landlocked country to complete the Oceans Seven marathon swimming challenge consisting of seven open water channel swims.

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whole article – theoutdoorstudio.co.uk