With speakers from Penny Dean, who held the overall English Channel record for 19 years, to the remarkable Anne Marie Ward, there will be many luminaries at the Global Open Water Swimming Conference in New York. Anne Marie will talk about swimming across the toughest channel swim in the world – the North (Irish) Channel – an always cold, rough swim across a sea of jellyfish.

But Anne Marie‘s road to the other side was never, ever easy. Her quest to join one of the most elite and exclusive marathon clubs in the world – the 11 members of the North (Irish) Channel club – took years of preparation and sacrifice. And her commitment paid off last summer when her never-say-never 18 hour 59 minute effort on her fourth attempt courageously ended in darkness at 3:35 am.

And her story goes deeper. For every person who wishes to be in better physical shape, for every person who works too much and exercises too little, Anne Marie‘s story is inspirational to hear. Prior to her successes, Anne Marie had to reverse her previously unhealthful lifestyle – never an easy change of lifestyle.

Starting humbly and simply with a 2-mile charity swim, Anne Marie is now deservedly recognized by her peers and honored for reaching the pinnacle of her sport.

Kieran Fitzgerald recalls, “What a lot of people don’t know about is about her first attempt in August where she swam for four hours in darkness in horrendous jellyfish conditions. She was swung with over two hundred stings and had to be hospitalized.”

Her story and how she embodies the spirit of open water swimming and possesses the sense of adventure, tenacity and perseverance that open water swimmers are known for, will be heard by participants coming from Canada, Mexico, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Japan, Slovenia, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, South Africa, Turks & Caicos, Tunisia, Spain and across the United States.

It is a celebration of the sport that should not be missed.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source