Daniel Douglas Di Pierro Crosses Bonifacio Twice
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Daniel Douglas Di Pierro, a 23-year-old Italian open water swimmer, successfully completed an unprecedented 32 km two-way crossing of the Strait of Bonifacio on July 5th between Sardinia-Corsica-Sardinia in 9 hours 43 minutes.
He swam 4 hours 38 minutes on the first leg and 5 hours 5 minutes on his return in the 24°C water, coached by Lorenc Feleqi of SDS Nuoto Giovinazzo as he overcame strong currents and steady winds.
“I only encountered one jellyfish that hit my foot and there were not any waves on the first leg, but during the entire return leg, we faced 40-50 cm.
During the second half of the first leg, the sea current forced me to extend the intended course by 2 km and during my last 3 km of the return, I encountered a very strong sea current that took me 90 minutes for the last 3 km.”
He was escorted by Tommaso Muntoni and Mattia Milia of Diving Mediterraneo.
Copyright © 2008-2017 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
Latest posts by Steven Munatones (see all)
