The year-long journey of Antonio Argüelles as he prepares to break the Guinness World Record for the oldest person to swim a double English Channel Crossing.
Antonio Argüelles - Double English Channel Attempt
Antonio Argüelles will attempt a 67 km two-way crossing of the English Channel in August 2021 with escort pilot Michael Oram.
Argüelles will be 62 years old during his crossing in an attempt to break the two-way English Channel crossing record of Rick Seirer at the age of 59 years 351 days (in 29 hours 46 minute).
Antonio Argüelles - Live Tracking
Click image above to track Antonio’s crossing at the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation. Select the Gallivant.
Click image above to track Antonio’s crossing at the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation. Select the Gallivant.
Diary of a Double: The Culmination
I see my swim as a big success. This is just my second double, we have learned a lot during this past year. I see it as the entrance you have to pay to be in another type of swims. Also, fulfilled one dream I had since the beginning, I landed in Cap Griz-Nez. ~ Antonio Argüelles
Diary of a Double: The Culmination
After a year of preparation, 62-year-old Antonio Arguelles began swimming at 4:52 am from Dover to France in an attempt to become the oldest person to complete a double crossing of the English Channel.
After 23 hours and just 2 miles offshore from his round trip destination, Antonio was pulled from the water due to hyperthermia.
Listen to a LIVE interview with Antonio who will describe the highs and lows of his incredible year-long journey – and future plans.
Join us live with questions and congratulations. 10AM (California), 1PM (NYC), 6PM (London)
Diary of a Double: The Complete Series
Diary of a Double documents the year-long journey of Antonio Argüelles who will attempt a 67 km two-way crossing of the English Channel in August 2021 with escort pilot Michael Oram.
Argüelles will be 62 years old during his crossing in an attempt to break the two-way English Channel crossing record of Rick Seirer at the age of 59 years 351 days (in 29 hours 46 minute).
Like swimmers around the world over the first part of 2020, Argüelles was locked down in his home and unable to swim during the COVID-19 pandemic. He postponed his attempt and dealt with the disappointment and issues that everyone also has had to face on a personal, logistical, physiological, and psychological basis.
It has not been easy – and his success going forward will neither be easy nor guaranteed.
Open water swimming vernacular for newbies that Argüelles uses in his interviews include:
* Big swim memory: the faculty of the human brain by which information and remembrances from a previous swim or impressible life experience is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed, especially in real time in the midst of an open water swimming race, channel swim, marathon swim, ice swim, winter swim, stage swim or in training
* WHOOP: a fitness wearable device that track workouts, sleep, recovery and gives its users advice on how to improve.
* KAATSU Cycle 2.0: a convenient to use, handheld BFR device that optimizes performance, rehabilitation and recovery.
* FINIS Agility Paddles: strapless yellow plastic molded hand paddles that float, manufactured and distributed by FINIS
* Accel Gel®: an energy gel specifically designed to deliver rapid energy to working muscles
* Maxim: sports nutrition that is used by many endurance athletes
* KAATSU: a modality to help improve recovery and athletic performance
* Two-way crossing: a solo or relay swim that continues two consecutive times across a channel, lake, river or other body of water under the traditional rules of marathon swimming
* Double crossing: synonym for two-way crossing
* English Channel: body of water between the countries of England and France, 33.5 km in a straight-line tangent
* Channel swimming: swimming between two land masses
* Oceans Seven: swimming across the English Channel, North Channel, Molokai Channel, Catalina Channel, Tsugaru Channel, Cook Strait and Strait of Gibraltar
* Dryland training: physical conditioning that a swimmer does out of the water on land that can include cardiovascular, flexibility, and strength activities in order to condition, stretch and strengthen muscles, ligaments and tendons that are used in swimming while building fitness and athleticism
* Tsugaru Channel: a 19.5 km channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan that is part of the Oceans Seven
* Molokai Channel: a 42 km channel between Molokai Island and Oahu in Hawaii that is part of the Oceans Seven
* Great Andersen: a 1948 Danish Olympic medalist who became one of the most renowned channel swimmers in history, a dual inductee in the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame
* Duke Kahanamoku: a Hawaii-born 5-time Olympic medalist in swimming and water polo, an actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player, renowned lifeguard, and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing
* Negative split: the act of swimming the second half of a race, swim or event faster than the first half * Champion of Champions: a series of races of 1 mile, 3 miles and 5 miles
The Forever Swim by Antonio Argüelles
Plunge into the water, accompany Antonio Argüelles on his Oceans Seven adventure, and, along the way, find out how to achieve your own dreams and goals.
On August 3, 2017, Antonio Argüelles swam 35 kilometers from Northern Ireland to Scotland. When he arrived on the Scottish shore after a swim of nearly 14 hours through hypothermic currents wearing only a speedo, cap, and goggles, he became just the seventh person ever to conquer the Oceans Seven, an aquatic achievement on par with the Seven Summits. His feat made international news, in part because at 58 years old, he became the oldest athlete ever to complete the challenge. Despite all warnings and his own self-doubt, he endured stormy seas, 24-hour swims, venomous jellyfish blooms, and a host of other hazards to accomplish his dream.
But no goal seized is an isolated incident, and Antonio’s story is no exception. The Forever Swim is not only a tale of success; it is also the tale of how a hyperactive overweight boy would discover swimming, chase an Olympic dream, attend Stanford, and wade into the tangled web of Mexican politics. This is a story of risk, fear, confidence, failure, and loss. It shows how the ability to adapt, focus, and manage the mind enabled Antonio to overcome each setback that sought to take him down in and out of the water. The Forever Swim illuminates key strategies anyone can utilize to pursue their own goals and reminds us that no dream, however bold, is ever out of reach, as long as we are willing to chase it down with relentless discipline and joy.
