Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Anthony McCarley and Donal Buckley will most likely take off on their tandem swim across the Strait of Gibraltar on May 1st according to the tides and current weather predictions.

The duo’s window is up to 10 days to complete the swim from Spain to Morocco.

To follow the American and Irish co-founder of the Marathon Swimmers Federation, their tracker is here or here.

McCarley [shown on left] explains about his third Oceans Seven crossing (after the English Channel and Catalina Channel), “This will be an especially entertaining swim. Most swims like this are solo swims. But this swim is difficult to schedule and the Asociación Cruce A Nado Del Estrecho De Gibraltar that monitors this swim allows multiple swimmers at the same time, so Donal will join me.”

The rules state that tandem swimmers have to stay within 50 meters of each other.

This rule makes for the ultimate in coordination and cooperation between tandem swimmers who have never previously met each other. “Hopefully, we will be about the same speed,” mused McCarley. “If not, it means one of us will have to swim slower than normal in 61°F (16°C) water. It is an interesting emotion to hope I am the slower swimmer.

Santiago Minguela, a lifelong friend of McCarley, will be the sole support crew member for the duo.”

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