230 swimmers braved the cold water for the 41st Crossing of Lyon swimming with fins
For more than 40 years, seasoned swimmers have ignored winter temperatures to cross the Rhône. This Sunday, January 23 in the morning, they were 230 on the starting line. A very sporty event in a good-natured atmosphere.
Like every year at the same time, Thalassa Lyon diving organized this Sunday, January 23, the tswim across Lyon with flippers.
An 8 km race in the Rhône between the Cité Internationale de Lyon and the Raymond Barre bridge. A swim for swimmers mainly licensed and/or used to being evaluated in white water.
Two categories of swimmers dived. If all were webbed, some had a board, of the hydrospeed type.
On the banks of the Rhône, they were 230 to transform themselves into frog man and woman. Neoprene wetsuit, mask, snorkel: the diver’s panoply!
Feet in the water to take the temperature, slightly out of breath, one of them reassures his friends: “We are training in Miribel, on Monday the water was at 3°”. Not even hurt ! This Sunday morning, the Rhône was at 7°.
After gradually entering the water, the swimmers set off, among them Chiara, 16 years old today, the age limit for taking part in this somewhat crazy challenge. “It’s my first crossing…I’m a little scared but I’ll do it” she said with a smile.
This year, the Rhône has decided to be very calm, with no current, no boost from the river for swimmers. The organizer of the race, Renaud Helstroffer, president of the “Thalassa” diving club, follows its progress aboard a boat, “That’s what makes things a little more difficult because it requires more effort, it makes the race longer. On some editions, the record was 30 minutes. There, we will be over 1h30, even 2h.”
On the decks, Sunday morning walkers stop to watch and cheer on the intrepid swimmers. A couple came to support a 70-year-old friend: “We took the bike to be able to follow her, she’s so fast.”
A swimmer leaves the race, he suffers from a cramp; yet it is not the pain that he retains from the crossing. “What I like is the conviviality, the sympathetic side of the race.”
The first to cross the finish line is a woman, she covered the 8 km in 1 hour and 1 minute.