Avishag Turek - Sea of Galilee two-way

North to South to North

41 km (25.5 miles)

14 hours, 54 minutes on 29-30 October 2019

Observed and documented by Guy Cohen

First two-way crossing of Sea of Galilee

Contents

Swimmer

  • Name: Avishag Turek
  • Gender: female
  • Age on swim date: 44
  • Nationality: Israel
  • Resides: Shefayim

Support Personnel

  • Lior Eliyahu - pilot
  • Stas Schupek - pilot
  • Dor Appelbaum-Solsi - feeder, support

Escort Vessel: Reef (Ein-Gev)


Swim Parameters

  • Category: Solo, nonstop, unassisted.
  • Rules: MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, without exception or modification.
  • Equipment used: Cap, goggles, textile swimsuit.

Route Definition

  • Body of Water: Sea of Galilee (Kinneret)
  • Route Type: multi-way
  • Start & Finish Location: Amnon Beach (32.890985, 35.595874)
  • Minimum Route Distance: 41 km (25.5 miles)

History

LongSwimsDB: Sea of Galilee


Swim Data

  • Start: 29 October 2019, 21:16 (Asia/Jerusalem, UTC+2).
  • Completion of First Leg: 30 October 2019, 04:39 (7:23 elapsed)
  • Finish: 30 October 2019, 12:10
  • Elapsed: 14 hours, 54 minutes.

Summary of Conditions

Feature Min Max
Water Temp (C) 26 26
Air Temp (C) 17 26
Wind (knots) calm 8

GPS Track

Trackpoint frequency: 20 minutes. Download raw data (CSV).

Speed Plot

Nutrition: Gel and 125cc juice, every 30 minutes. Occasional salt tab and misc. food.


Observer Log

Download PDF


Narrative

by Avishag Turek

The Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) for me is where the sport of Open-Water -Swimming of my land was born. About seventy years after Matthew Webb crossed for the first time the English Channel, Yitzhak Yehezkel “ours” had crossed the Sea of Galilee and was probably the first marathon swimmer to do so in the land of Israel, even before we could call it our home.

I discovered all these details just a few days before my planned double crossing. Guy Cohen, a marathon swimmer himself decided to take on the information fact gathering about the Kinneret, compiled all this information into charts and Excel files and here we are. Now we know more about our legacy in our small state in the Middle East.

I was hoping to swim on the day of the 75th anniversary of Yehezkel’s pioneering swim, but the weather conditions had their own plans and it came out shortly after.

In any case, I really like to swim in the Sea of Galilee and in Israel, here, my roots are in a growing and vibrant Open Water community. I am a young open water swimmer who has been swimming in the sea for just six and a half years. I was a pool swimmer as a child and then I did not swim for twenty years, Following the discovery of childhood diabetes to my little daughter at the age of one, I rolled back into the water. The water helped me deal with the crisis. I am very amused by the fact that for the first time I can be the first in the world at doing something that has never been done before.

One crossing, two crossings and the most crossings, in total ten length crossings of the sea of Galilee plus two that were not documented and not counted. Sarah Thomas, Chloe McCardel, you are invited to join!

The swim itself in the Sea of Galilee was the happiest swim I have ever experienced, Despite the harsh conditions at night, on the first leg when I was battling against the southern winds, I went into the water with the decision that such a challenge is worth doing with joy and love also in difficulties. This meaning and essence is in the attitude along the way and not just the final achievement!


Photos

Click to enlarge.


Video