At 59 years old, Bilbao native Xabier Arteche crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa to Punta Cires in Morocco in four hours and 13 minutes, El Correo reported.
His long bond with the sea began when he swam to reach the beach of Azkala before getting on a surfboard, a practice that led him to reach San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and then Cape Matxitxako.
The open-water swim covered 15.2 kilometers, or 8.2 miles, on a route designed to honor his late sister. Arteche shaved more than two hours off his previous time from a 1998 crossing, which took six hours and 39 minutes.
Modern Strait crossings operate under strict rules enforced by organizations like Neda el Món. Swimmers must maintain a pace of three kilometers per hour, match the speed of their group, and avoid touching support vessels.
Arteche and his fellow swimmers spent 11 days waiting in Tarifa for favorable weather windows. An initial attempt was called off midway through when a heavy western mist rolled in over calm waters.
“We reached the middle of the course with a magnificent sea, a spectacular pace, and great conditions, and they blew the whistle and told us to stop,” Arteche told El Correo.
The delay caused scheduling conflicts for two original members of the team. Kazakhstan swimmer Dmitry Budkov and Latvian swimmer Renate Sumska joined Arteche and José Javier Casero as replacements for the final attempt.
The new quartet completed the crossing without wetsuits after meeting on the morning of the swim. Pilot boats steered through strong currents and winds while feeding swimmers via sticks every 45 minutes.
“It was a brutal risk because we had never swum with them, but the organizer told us to be calm, that they were going to do it at our pace, and it turned out perfect,” Arteche told El Correo.
Pilot whales and dolphins accompanied the group during the crossing. Vomiting during the swim results in immediate disqualification and removal from the water.
Arteche plans to continue open-water swimming annually as long as his health permits. His achievements include uniting Menorca with Mallorca and connecting Turkey with Greece, and his next target is the Bonifacio Strait between Sardinia and Corsica.
«La siguiente que tengo en mente es el Estrecho Bonifacio, que separa Cerdeña y Córcega», Arteche told El Correo.
“Illusion, but then a kind of emptiness,” Arteche told El Correo about reaching the Moroccan shore. “And now what?”
Related reading
