Kevin Jansen (43) from Oosteind has crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in a new national record. He completed the 17-kilometer swim in a time of 3 hours and 37 minutes. Kevin thus improved the old record by 21 minutes. “Although that was not the goal, I just wanted to swim.”
“I took a nice piece off it”, Kevin looks back proudly. There has been a Dutchman who was once three minutes faster. “But he did that in a wetsuit and then the time does not officially apply. I only swam with swimming trunks, swimming cap and goggles,” says Kevin with a laugh, who says he was not working on the record.
“I didn’t want to know any intermediate times at all. I closed myself off from everything and just went for a swim.” It wasn’t until the end of his journey that Kevin realized that he was on his way very quickly.
“The conditions were perfect and I really enjoyed myself.”
The swimmer from Oosteind was taken by boat from the harbor to Punta Trarifa. There is the starting point that can only be reached from the water. “That is why you are first thrown overboard there, you swim back to shore and only then do you start your journey.” Kevin especially liked the first part cold and spicy. “The water was 15 degrees Celsius and that takes some getting used to.” Still, he doesn’t want to complain. “The conditions were otherwise perfect and I really enjoyed it.”
The Strait of Gibraltar is a busy shipping route where some 300 merchant ships pass through each day. “That also makes it exciting. The waves they cause are a challenge to swim against.” That’s not the only thing Kevin encountered along the way. “There are all kinds of things swimming in the water there. That’s how I ended up with a small school of jellyfish and I saw some crabs, but I didn’t pay much attention.”
“You quickly think that you are almost there and that is disappointing.”
The swimmer had his focus more on the port of Tangier. “It is very nice to see Africa getting bigger from the sea, but that is also a risk. You can start to think that you are almost there and that is still very disappointing.” But the swimmer did not suffer for a moment.
Despite the relatively easy crossing and his record time, Kevin did take the boat back to Spain. His children and girlfriend were waiting for him on the quay after they had waved him goodbye. “The first thing I drank was a glass of cola to get rid of that salty taste, but tonight it will be cava.”
“Swimming was a kind of therapy and now a passion.”
Kevin started swimming before the corona crisis. “My father and best friend passed away in a short time and swimming helped me during corona. It was a kind of therapy.” It became a passion and that is how he came up with the idea of doing new things. “Something iconic and crazy and that is crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.”
Kevin has got the hang of it now. In a few weeks he will be swimming ten kilometers in open water off the Italian coast of Rimini, he will swim across the IJsselmeer and do a lap around the parliament island in Copenhagen.
