In pursuit of her favourite pastime – swimming, Mary Lokken, an American and long-time resident of Florence, has created an annual event that unites swimmers for a challenging non-competitive swim across the Strait of Messina.
In 2004 Mary decided she wanted to swim across the Messina Strait, which is the body of water that divides the Italian mainland from Sicily. When she discovered that there weren’t any groups organising swims across the strait, Mary and her swim-mates on the master’s team, Nuoto Club Firenze, decided to do so themselves. Once they had started, they found the organisation process to be more complicated than expected, but they eventually succeeded in obtaining approvals.
With her new-found expertise on organising races of this nature, Mary has now decided to team up with friend Alessandro Chiappe to organise the swim this year. For the 2005 edition she is inviting anyone and everyone to participate, with special efforts to include disabled swimmers as well.
The date has been set for July 29th, 2005. Those participating will leave from Punto Faro, Messina, Sicily, and will arrive at Costa Viola, Canitello, Calabria. The distance of the swim is approximately 3.3 KM. And, as stated on the website dedicated to the swim, the course is characterized by strong currents and is well known in the open-water swimming world as a challenging swim.
The event will be limited to 40 participants, so for those who are interested, applications should be made soon. For more information go to www.iswimitaly.it.
