Gina Harden’s Swim Story
Hello listeners, I love spring in the Rogue Valley. Snow still caps the mountains, while down in the valley we alternate between beautiful 70-degree days and cool, rainy ones. The additional sunlight each day reminds us warm, dry weather is coming soon.
Would you consider a visit? I’ve been working with swimmers to design personalized swim camps to set you on the path of achieving your swimming goals by reducing your chance of injury and igniting your curiosity for how to efficiently move your body through the water. Mini camps include one on one coaching in the Endless pool with video analysis, personalized practices that help you reinforce and retain joint safe movement patterns, and any number of follow up Zoom calls to address your questions and tune your training plan.
Reach out to me to design and book your personalized swim camp!
I’m ecstatic to share Gina Harden’s swim story with you today. From breaking barriers as one of the first female Navy divers to conquering the English Channel, Gina’s journey is a testament to resilience, grit, and the power of chasing big dreams. Tune in to hear how she continues to defy limits in and out of the water.
I hope you enjoy Gina’s story!
In her own words:
I learned to swim very young and joined the AAU swim team at 9 years old. My father was in the Navy and we lived in Spain so I swam in meets all over the country. My Mom is from London so on holidays we would pile into the car and drive across the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain and take the ferry across the English Channel to visit my Grandparents in England. It was on one of those trips across the channel that I told my Mom and Dad that I would swim the channel one day. It took 60 years but I finally fulfilled my life long dream of swimming the English Channel in 2021. I did numerous swim camps to prepare for my channel swim including a Robbins Island swim. I was supposed to swim the channel in 2020 but was delayed because of COVID. I had to quarantine for 14 days before finally getting the opportunity.
I had never heard about the Triple Crown until after my English Channel swim and I enjoyed the swim community and experience so much I decided to tick away at the Triple Crown. I completed the 20 Bridges Swim around Manhattan as a Tandem with Melanie Tyrrell. I ended up getting caught in a whirlpool, swimming into a piling and getting a cramp on that swim but managed to complete it.
Catalina was probably my most challenging swim. It took me 22 and a half hours. I swam in place for several hours. When I finally finished I was at the verge of hypothermia. My crew literally laid on top of my the whole trip back to the harbor in order to keep me warm. But knowing it was the final leg of my Triple Crown, I was not going to quit. I am just grateful the Pilot stuck with me and allowed me to continue and finish!
During my Catalina swim, I developed a pain in my side that I thought may have been a stress fracture or torn intercoastal muscle. After an MRI, I was told I had a tumor on my pancreas. At this same period of time, I had been toying with the idea of an Oceans Seven Quest. Unfortunately, that next year was consumed with recovery from Pancreatic Cancer and surgery to remove part of my pancreas and spleen. A bright light came thru when I got a call from Nikki Poe asking me if I wanted to swim Gibraltar that next spring. So in the April of 2024, I swam the Straight of Gibraltar with Nicki Pope and Anel Sytdykova. It was a glorious swim and I was so grateful to be back in the water.
Last summer, I decided to try and do the hardest of the Ocean Sevens swim, the North Channel. I figured if I could do that one then maybe I would commit to Oceans Seven. Living in Florida, it is difficult to train for the cold water. I purchased a chiller for my bathtub and did several of the cold water training camps; Hit the Wall, Cork Distance Week and Lancerote. I DNFed the North Channel last year but I do have a slot in 2026 to give it another go. I will be the oldest person to complete the North Channel if I am able to do it this time. This year I am planning the swim Around Key West and working out my training plan for next year to prepare for North Channel.
