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Michele Santilhano in the doorway of the Seafarer, the pilot boat that accompanied her across the English Channel.

A Story by Lyra Halprin

Davis Aquatic Masters (DAM) swimmer Michele Santilhano has returned from a successful swim across the English Channel, a 22-mile stretch between England and France. Santilhano, 36, completed the swim September 17 in 19 hours and 8 minutes.

Santilhano began her swim at Shakespeare Beach below the Cliffs of Dover at the narrowest part of the channel.

"The start of the swim was very smooth, but midway through the crossing we encountered strong winds of 18 knots that kept pushing me off course," she said. "Everyone on my support boat was very seasick, as was I."

The average water temperature was between 55 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit during the swim, Santilhano said. She stepped ashore in Calais, France.

Santilhano, a registered nurse, has been living and working in Yuba City, but soon will begin a nursing job in Long Beach. She moved to California from her native Cape Town, South Africa in 2004.

Santilhano is no stranger to athletic challenges. She has competed in numerous marathons and ultramarathons, including the Sustina 100, a 100-mile trail run across Alaska in late February 2006. A noted mountaineer, she has climbed the highest peak on each of the seven continents. She was part of the Millennium Challenge Team that made the first British ascent of Mt. Everest in 2000, and was a member of the Alpine Ascents International Expedition to Antarctica to Mount Vinson in 1999.

"I had been thinking about swimming the channel for several years," said Santilhano. "I have always enjoyed swimming and swam with a masters group in my hometown of Cape Town, South Africa."

In late 2005 she discovered DAM and started swimming with the 450-member club. There she met Ahelee Sue Osborn, DAM's assistant coach, who swam the English Channel in 2001 in 11 hours.

"When I heard Ahelee had done the channel, I wondered if I could make my dream a reality," Santilhano said. "Ahelee looked at me and said, 'Yes, you can do it' and I started training in earnest. Her positive reaction inspired me."

Santilhano trained for the channel swim for eight months.

"I would swim in San Francisco's Aquatic Park between Fisherman's Wharf and Fort Mason either before or after Davis swim workouts," she said.

Sometimes she trained with swimmers from the Dolphin or South End swim clubs, which are based at the Aquatic Park. In July she headed for the famous cliffs of Dover, the starting point for all channel crossings. There she completed her training and arranged for an escort boat to lead her across the channel. Her boat was the Seafarer, piloted by Chris Osmond.

Michele Santilhano in the midst of her English Channel swim. The tanker in the background is a common site.

Swimmers who want to cross the channel must work with one of two official organizations that coordinate the swims, the Channel Swimmers and Piloting Federation (CS&PF) or the Channel Swimming Association (CSA). Santilhano organized her swim through the CS&PF, which is directed by Michael Oram and Alison Streeter. Streeter has made the channel swim 43 times, including a triple-crossing and two double-crossings. During her training period, Santilhano joined Streeter and others for a women's relay across the channel.

While in Dover, Santilhano met other swimmers who were training for a channel swim, all of whom benefited from the experience of Streeter and her mother Freda.

"They are the ones coaching, encouraging, feeding and looking after swimmers on the weekends from April to September," said Santilhano. "It was a terrific experience, both the training and the crossing. The other swimmers were very supportive of each other. I learned to swim with gratitude. And at the end, I got to add my signature to the wall of the White Horse Pub in Dover."

The White Horse walls are still legible, as fewer than 1000 people have successfully completed the swim across channel since the first crossing in 1875. That's when Captain Matthew Webb made it in 26 hours. The first woman to complete the crossing was Gertrude Ederle in 1926.

Barely two months after her successful swim, Santilhano is already setting her next goal.

"As I'm moving to Long Beach, I'll be in a great location to train for a swim to Catalina!" she said.