Anna-Carin Nordin

Description

Anna-Carin Nordin (born 3 December 1970) is a 50-year-old marathon swimmer and channel swimmer from JÃttendal, Sweden who was the second person in history to complete the 7 channels of the Oceans Seven.

Honors

She was inducted as an Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, Class of 2018.
She was nominated for the 2011, 2012 and 2014 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.
She was named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women in 2015 by the World Open Water Swimming Association.
She was named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women in 2016 by the World Open Water Swimming Association.
She was named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women in 2018 by the World Open Water Swimming Association.
She was named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women in 2019 by the World Open Water Swimming Association.

Open Water Swimming Career Highlights

Nordin started to swim as a 6-year-old in Lidingö, a suburb of Stockholm in Sweden.
A pool swimmer until 1985, she started swimming long races: Riddarfjärden in Stockholm, Vansbrosimningen, Göta Kanal simmet and other shorter races.
In 1996, after her son was born, she swam her first Nordic Masters Championships and the European Masters in Prague.
In 2011 she won the Glen Christiansen & Swedish Swimming Federations Masters Prize for outstanding performance and promotion of Masters swimming in Sweden and international.
She became the first woman and second person in history to complete the 7 channels of the Oceans Seven.
On 21 September 2010, she completed a crossing of the English Channel from England to France is 12 hours 59 seconds at the age of 39.
In November 2011, she completed a 42 km crossing of the Molokai Channel from Molokai Island to Oahu in 18 hours 22 minutes.
On 2 May 2012, she completed a 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 4 hours 46 minutes at the age of 41.
On 4 July 2012, she crossed the Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 12 hours 40 minutes 6 seconds at the age of 41.
On 14 September 2012, she crossed the 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel from Honshu to Hokkaido in Japan in 19 hours 11 minutes at the age of 41.
On 8 April 2014, she completed a 24 km crossing of the Cook Strait from South Island to North Island in 8 hours 18 minutes at the age of 42.
On 8 July 2014, she completed a 35 km crossing of the North Channel from Scotland to Northern Ireland in 14 hours 21 minutes at the age of 42.
On 11 August 2011, she completed the 26.4 km International Self-Transcendence Marathon Swim in Lake Zurich in Switzerland in 8 hours 45 minutes 25 seconds at the age of 40.
On 26 May 2016, she completed the Battle of Carlingford Lough in Ireland in 1 hour 48 minutes 4 seconds at the age of 46.
She competed in the 2016 Scandinavian Winter Swimming Championships.
On 16-18 June 2016, she participated in the Triskelion relay with Olive Conroy (Ireland), Conor Turner (Ireland), Elina Makïnen (Finland), Rory Fitzgerald (Ireland), and Carole Laporte (France) that crossed 69.6 km across the Irish Sea from the Isle of Man to Ardglass in Northern Ireland in 18 hours 8 minutes 42 seconds with escort pilots Pádraig Mallon of Infinity Channel Swimming and Piloting Services on AMac and Nicky Donnelly on Melody Bay, and support crew Milo McCourt and Jacqueline McClelland.
She completed a 44.4 km cross-border swim from Eckerö, Finland to Grisslehamn, Sweden in 14 hours 41 minutes under very rough seas.
In 2009 she competed in the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup race in Copenhagen, finishing in 2 hours 46 minutes.
She swam 20 km in Sweden from Norrfjärden-Mellanfjärden along the coastline in north of Sweden in August.
On 2 November 2012, she completed an Ice Mile in Mellanfjarden, Sweden in 4°C water in 41:18.
She finished third in the 450m endurance swim at the 2014 Winter Swimming Championships in Finland.
On 5 August 2016, she competed in the ILDSA Lough Erne 25 km and 16 km National Championship in Northern Ireland and was the first woman and second finisher overall.
She was a member of the Fast and Frozen open water swimming relay that completed an unprecedented 2-way North Channel crossing from Ireland to Scotland to Ireland in 29 hours 56 minutes. They left the shore of Ireland on 26 July 2015 at 6:52 am and completed the two-way relay swim at 1:49 pm on 28 July 2015, escorted by Pádraig Mallon‘s Infinity Channel Swimming. Its members included Henri Kaarma from Estonia, Ryan Stramrood from South Africa, Anna Carin-Nordin from Sweden, Patrick Corcoran from Ireland, Zdenek Thalmika from the Czech Republic, and Elina Makïnen from Finland. It is nominated for the 2015 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year by the World Open Water Swimming Association.
She completed a 140 km 7-day 36 hour 46 minute stage swim around the Isle of Man in 2018.
She completed the 20 Bridges Swim around Manhattan Island in New York on 1 June 2019 finishing 6th overall in 7 hours 50 minutes 37 seconds to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.
She completed a 333 km stage swim around Öland, Sweden in 117 hours 5 minutes over 22 days that included 32 separate stage swims from shore to shore that started and finished on Färjestaden between 28 July 2020 and 18 August 2020, taking a total of 117 hours 5 minutes.
She is a veteran SwimTrek guide.

WOWSA Awards

Nordin was nominated for the 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2020 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.

2012 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year Nomination

Quietly, diligently, and by herself, Anna-Carin Nordin travels the world in pursuit of the Oceans Seven. Neither the fastest nor the first, Nordin nevertheless pushes forward on her quest to cross the 6 major channels of the world. Without demands or an entourage, Nordin bounds from one channel to another, from one continent to another with a courage encased in a veneer of genuine sweetness. With the Catalina Channel and Tsugaru Channel completed this year, the Swedish heroine has 2 more swims to achieve her goal of the Oceans Seven. For her unpretentious road to the highest echelon of channel swimming, for her introverted, methodical approach to achieve her goals, for her heartfelt appreciation of everything and everyone involved in the sport, Anna-Carin Nordin is a worthy nominee for the 2012 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.

2014 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year Nomination

Quietly and steady as she goes, Anna-Carin Nordin set the Oceans Seven goal for herself without fanfare and without a team. Crossing by crossing, country by country, continent by continent, Nordin swam the globe in pursuit of crossing the 6 mightiest channels in the world. As she did mega-miles in training and submerged herself in ice swims under 5°C, she was prepared for any cold-water, warm-water or rough-water conditions she would encounter. The unassuming and humble mother of one became the first woman to complete the Oceans Seven over dozens of much more well-known colleagues. For her quiet determination, for her simple approach to the sport, for her achievement of the Oceans Seven, Anna-Carin Nordin is a worthy nominee for the 2014 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.

2020 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year Nomination

Anna-Carin Nordin, the first woman in history to complete the Oceans Seven, has achieved a large number of marathon swims and extreme swims to her credit. The 49-year-old Swedish Honor Swimmer in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame continues to swim and smile, making friends all over the world. But even with more successful swims and additional exposure, Nordin remains humble, soft-spoken, and quietly ambitious. This year, she set off on another swimming dream with her typically small crew: an unprecedented stage swim in the Baltic Sea around Öland, the second largest island in her native Sweden. 333 km later, after a cumulative 117 hours 5 minutes in the water over 32 separate stages, she finished on Färjestaden right where she started 22 days previously. She swam the last 83 km by herself, without an escort kayaker with her father Karl-Erik Nordin coordinating her ground support. For attempting and completing the record-setting Öland Circumnavigation Stage Swim in her typically understated but triumphant manner, for adding another swim to her prolific open water swimming career with a deep passion and humble appreciation for the sport, and for carrying on with her ambassadorial role as an icon in the sport, Anna-Carin Nordin is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Women of the Year.

Training

In June 2011, she attended one of the Glen Christiansen swimming camps in Tenerife. She trained up to 100,000 meters per week and every third day, she did a 6-8 hour ocean swim.

World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women

She was named to the list of World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women by the World Open Water Swimming Association in 2015.

Fast and Frozen

She was a member of the Fast and Frozen open water swimming relay that accomplished an unprecedented 2-way North Channel crossing from Ireland to Scotland to Ireland in 29 hours 56 minutes. They left the shore of Ireland on 26 July 2015 at 6:52 am and completed the two-way relay swim at 1:49 pm on 28 July 2015, escorted by Pádraig Mallon‘s Infinity Channel Swimming. Its members included Henri Kaarma from Estonia, Ryan Stramrood from South Africa, Anna Carin-Nordin from Sweden, Patrick Corcoran from Ireland, Zdenek Thalmika from the Czech Republic, and Elina Makïnen from Finland. It is nominated for the 2015 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year by the World Open Water Swimming Association.