Strait of Gibraltar - May 11, 2026

On Easter, my dear friend, Sue Mckay, texted to ask if I wanted to join her Gibraltar pod. I met Sue last year at SCAR, and we had kept in touch, bonding over our insane decision to swim the North Channel this year (iykyk).

Gibraltar has a notoriously long waitlist unless you’re asked to join a group. While Gibraltar was not on the plan for this year, being the rational and non-impulsive person I am, I immediately started looking for flights. Going into this swim, I told myself I was going for “vibes”. I was there to swim with friends across a gorgeous but unpredictable strip of water. And it far exceeded all expectations.

In a nearly unheard of series of events, we swam on the first day of our window. While the conditions were going to be rough at the start, we knew the current would be in our favor if we got far enough out in the first hour. Starting at sunrise, we had a bumpy start and were unable to safely touch the rocks near Tarifa. Nikko, Marcelo, Sue, and I hammered for the first hour as instructed. The sunrise was magical, our skin shimmering in the crystal clear water. I’ve never swum through water so clear that I didn’t really have to sight forward ever. I could clearly see Sue, Marcelo, and Nikko during each stroke. I was sighting so infrequently that I nearly swam head first into a turtle!

This is a relatively “short” (by my standards) swim at 15.1km. After the first hour, Sue and I were completely in sync. Many giggles were shared as we gleefully declared we have many tandem swims in our future. We were so happy to be swimming in such gorgeous water at a comfortable pace with a substantial push at our feet guiding us toward Cires, Morocco. I will be forever grateful for this swim and for Nikko, Sue, and Marcelo for sharing this experience with me.

A massive thanks to ACNEG for crewing for us all. To my Gibraltar pod, Marcelo Dietric, Nikko Price, and Sue for including me in this adventure. And to Sue and Liam for putting up with a near stranger for 12 days (Sue and I are actually the same person if you didn’t know it). 💙