80-year-old woman sets record swimming from Lanzarote to Lobos

An 80-year-old woman has completed a remarkable solo swim from Lanzarote to the island of Lobos, setting a new age-related record in the process.

Basque swimmer Txaro Tomasena, whose full name is María Rosario Tomasena Alzuri, completed the open-water challenge across the La Bocaina Strait between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

Her officially recorded time was 5 hours, 46 minutes and 18 seconds.

The crossing was supervised by a referee from the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation, with Tomasena completing the challenge without assistance from another swimmer or support vessel.

FROM PAPAGAYO TO LOBOS

The swimmer set off from the Papagayo area in southern Lanzarote early on Monday morning.

Her original target was the Corralejo coastline in Fuerteventura, but sea currents affected the planned route.

For safety reasons, including avoiding the ferry navigation area between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the finishing point was changed to Lobos.

The crossing covered approximately 10.5 kilometres, although currents significantly influence the actual distance travelled during open-water challenges of this kind.

Tomasena successfully reached the island after almost six hours in the Atlantic.

SHE COULD BARELY SWIM 15 YEARS AGO

What makes the achievement even more remarkable is Tomasena's relatively late introduction to the sport.

Around 15 years ago she could barely swim, but subsequently developed into a competitive athlete and has participated in Spanish, European and world-level masters events.

At the age of 69 she also learned to cycle as part of her ambition to compete in triathlons.

She later won a gold medal at the World Masters Games in Taiwan.

Her achievements have also included a record-breaking crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The La Bocaina challenge adds another remarkable achievement to her career, linking two of the Canary Islands' best-known stretches of coastline at the age of 80.