Tracy Clark is a high performance channel swimmer and mother of two. Swimming for more than 12 hours through 16 degree open water from the UK to France taught Tracy the determination that is required to achieve unconventional success. She now swims for charity and uses her experience as a motivational speaker. In this conversation we cover a number of points such as the capability to take on huge challenges, the impact of research on your success and overcoming limiting beliefs.
Reading time: 8 minutes
Hi, my name is Tracy and this is HOWILEAD
I’m a New Zealander currently living in the United Kingdom with my family. I moved to the Netherlands in 2004 and lived here with my husband and two sons until 2015. In 2010 I was a finalist in the Netherlands Expat of the Year for my charity work and fundraising. In 2014 I was a finalist for the Fairwork (modern day slavery charity) Award. I have raised thousands of Euros swimming Channels/Straits around the world. My first major swim was the English Channel (England to France) in September 2013 which took 12 hours 46 minutes. I was awarded the trophy for ‘Swimming in the Most Arduous Conditions’ of the season by the Channel Swimming Association. I was also honoured at the House of Lords in London in recognition of my fundraising.
Tearing my left bicep tendon during my English Channel swim, I couldn’t swim for 10 months. After my recovery, I set myself the goal of training for an ice mile. I became the first person in the Netherlands to swim an ice mile in a temperature of 3.6 degrees Celsius, which took me 37 minutes and 33 seconds. I have since completed the Gibraltar Strait (Spain to Morocco) in 6 hours 20 minutes. I also swam the Catalina Channel, California in 12 hours and 55 minutes. In February 2016 I swam my first Robben Island to Cape Town in South Africa.
