MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine woman swims across Falkland's sound

Maria trains in the icy waters of Perito Moreno glacier

An Argentine woman, 39, who lost a leg as a child, but has a long experience in open spaces swimming, last week successfully crossed the Falkland Islands' sound.

Maria Ines Mato trained in the icy waters of the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentine Patagonia and had the experience of February last year when she swam during twenty minutes in Antarctica before undertaking the Malvinas challenge, a word which evokes much enthusiasm from many Argentines. Speaking to the Falklands' Penguin News Maria Ines anticipated she was quietly confident about the swim, "the water could be cold", but training has put her in a good stead. Reluctant to talk about her disability she simply said "one or two legs, it's all the same in the water". Last Friday Maria Ines left from Jersey Point in West Falkland at 11:00 hours and swam across the 4.6 kilometers sound reaching East Falkland in just under three hours "She had a steady, strong rhythm averaging 69 strokes to the minute", said the team who supported her from the "Mago del Sur" vessel. After an hour's swim, she crossed halfway through the sound (approximately 2.3 kilometers) but 600 meters from the east coast "a very strong northeast current restricted her advance during 45 minutes" At this point, given the additional energy demanded to keep her body temperature Maria Ines assistants decided to help her with the support vessel with the purpose of countering the strong current. Once this was over, Maria Ines completed the 200 meters to the coast". On Friday on finishing the crossing the sea temperature was 10 degrees with waves over a meter high. As in previous occasions she was followed by a documentary film crew for a program called Huellas del Agua" ("Water trail"). Her efforts are not only sporting achievements but also in the name of science. Accompanied by a doctor and a team of experts Maria was monitored closely as part of a long term study into the effects of cold temperature on the human body. But this is not the only fete of this Semiology lecturer from Buenos Aires University who has made swimming and particularly in cold temperatures the passion of her life. She has already swum across the English Channel (1997) (13 hours and a Guinness Record), around the island of Manhattan (2000), the Beagle Channel (Chile-Argentina) (2001), the Fehmarnbelt strait in the Baltic Sea (Denmark/Germany) and the Gibraltar strait among others. Maria Ines love for swimming begun as a child but it was not until 1992 that she really got a taste for open spaces swimming competitions and records. Her first experiences were in Mar del Plata and the Parana River but rapidly was after other goals, for which she was introduced to Claudio Prit a retired Argentine swimmer who established several open swimming world records. Crossing the English Channel also helped discover not only that Maria Ines really felt much better "floating" in the water but that she had a special resilience to cold temperatures in the water. "I've found water as a space which allows me a particular mental lucidity, an attention, alert component I did not have when I was not in cold waters. That fascinated me. I have feelings of permanent movement with my senses fully displayed", confessed Maria Ines in an interview with the Argentine media. This particular condition attracted scientific attention, --Maria Ines apparent hypothermal relative immunity--, and she begun to be followed by a medical team sponsored by Argentina's Sport Office and the Antarctic Institute. "The only back draw was that for the Antarctic waters experience I was asked to put on an additional fourteen kilos, fatty tissue to help protect the body", she admitted. And what about retirement? "I still have the challenge of Malvinas (completed last week) and hopefully when Latinamerica matures, integrates and really feels solidarity, one of those symbols will be for Bolivia to recover its Pacific Ocean outlet. My utopia is to swim in Bolivian sea waters".