By Will Baxley on SwimSwam
In a press conference before the final stop of the 2025 Open Water World Cup, Olympic Champion Ana Marcela Cunha revealed her 2026 goal: swimming the English Channel.
One of the most decorated open water swimmers of all time, including 16 World Championship medals, Cunha has never attempted one of the esteemed “Oceans Seven” swims.
Cunha, 33, said that she’s itching to swim longer races, particularly after World Aquatics removed the 25k from World Championships in favor of a 3k knockout event. The swimming route of the English Channel stretches about 33 kilometers (20.5 miles), not counting the impact of currents.
“I feel better when I swim more distance, long distance, so I’m happy to be doing the English Channel,” Cunha told World Aquatics. “It’s just me and myself, my mind, it’s not a competition with anyone else. It’s my race, I put this in my mind, so I think that it’s a great time to do it.”
The Salvador, Brazil native did not specify whether she would swim from England to France or vice versa. She did say that she anticipates the swim taking her eight to ten hours. Czech national Yvetta Hlavacova holds the fastest women’s time ever, coming in at 7 hours and 26 minutes.
Prior to this announcement, Cunha had hinted at imminent retirement multiple times. The open water icon medalled at every World Championships from 2011 to 2024, before suffering a serious arm cut in the middle of her 5k race in Singapore this summer. She also boasts an Olympic gold to her name, taking the 10k at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
To cap off 2025, Cunha will compete in the 10k at the Open Water World Cup in Golfo Aranci, Italy, later today. She is also set to compete on Brazil’s mixed 4x1500m relay, and she said she might also compete in the 3k knockout tomorrow.
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