News / Swimming
Head of Bristol University Medical School to swim cross-continents
The head of the University of Bristol’s Medical School will be swimming across continents at the end of August.
The 6.5km swim will see cut through the waves of the Bosphorus Strait on August 24.
Chrissie Thirlwell, who is also a medical oncologist, will join 2,400 others as they swim from Asia to Europe in the Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim.
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The Bosphorus is a 30km strait which divides Istanbul and joins the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea.
This swim is the latest in Chrissie’s 20-year stretch of long-distance cross-continental swims.
Some of her most notable include a 40km swim across the English Channel in 2007, a 20km swim of the Strait of Gibraltar in 2013 and a swim from Britain to the US Virgin Islands in 2014.
Chrissie finds that her academic commitments and training go “hand-in-hand” – photo: University of Bristol
While balancing academia with the intensive training that is required for long-distance swims may seem challenging, yet Chrissie finds that physical activity does in fact “go hand-in-hand with the demands of the job.
“In my job, I find it helpful that I feel very fit and strong,” Chrissie explains.
“I tell my students the same thing; it’s important to get your head into a different space – you don’t have to climb a mountain or run a marathon; it can be knitting or any other activity, you simply need to do something that makes you happy.”
Chrissie has previously raised funds for cancer research and children’s charities.
For this swim, she is raising money for the Marfan Trust, a charity that supports those affected by Marfan syndrome, which is a genetic condition that affects the body’s connective tissue.
It is a condition that Chrissie’s lifelong friend, Kirsty Widdowson, lived with until she sadly passed away in August.
Chrissie (right) is swimming in memory of her lifelong friend Kirsty Widdowson (left) – photo: Chrissie Thirlwell
“Kirsty lived a wonderful life and wasn’t at all defined by Marfans. I’m doing this in her memory with her family’s blessing,” Chrissie says.
“The fact she would have said I was crazy makes me want to do it even more!”
To view Chrissie’s JustGiving page, visit justgiving.com/page/chrissie-thirlwell-1
Main photo: Chrissie Thirlwell
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