Citadel Alumna/Instructor/Veteran and James Island Resident Earns Title for Straits of Gibraltar Swim
Friday, December 2nd, 2016
A Citadel Graduate College alumna and U.S. Air Force veteran, who is now an instructor at the college, has earned the position as the oldest woman to swim across the Straits of Gibraltar in 2016. Nancy Haynsworth, who is 59, was named Oldest Female Swimmer with Neoprene for 2016 by the Asociación Cruce a Nado Estrechio de Gibraltar in late November. According to the ACNEG, 22 of the 141 people who successfully made the swim in 2016 were women.
Haynsworth is a marathon swimming hobbyist who teaches aquatics, lifeguarding, swimming, and Contemporary Health and Fitness Foundation courses at The Citadel. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Health Exercise and Sport Science in 2010 after serving as a Navy fitness professional in the Kingdom of Bahrain and at other Naval facilities for a decade. Prior to that civilian assignment, she served as an aircraft maintenance officer in the Air Force.
“I started competitive swimming at the age of 40, so I could swim with my two children,” Haynsworth said. “We competed in swim meets throughout Europe when I was stationed there. My son swam for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and my daughter swims for the academy now. She was part of my support crew, monitoring my hydration, stroke rate, and body temperature during the swim in the strait.”
Haynsworth eventually switched from Masters Swimming to Marathon Swimming in 2008, and began training for the Gibraltar swim after setting it as a personal goal to accomplish as a celebration for her 60th birthday.
“I trained very hard for three years for this particular event, swimming a minimum of 30,000 meters per week along with strength and functional fitness land training and extra land cardio, while adhering to a sound nutrition program,” Haynsworth said. “It is a thrill to be the oldest person to accomplish the swim this year, just in time for my 60th.”
In mid-October, Haynsworth left her James Island home and traveled to Spain where she had a five-day window to attempt the swim according to ACNEG regulations. On Oct. 15 conditions, including the wind, currents and boat traffic in the busy shipping channel, made it possible for her to attempt the challenge. Wearing a wetsuit, Haynsworth, along with two other swimmers, set off for the 12.5-mile swim in water that was approximately 70 degrees. She completed the feat in 6.5 hours; the other two swimmers were unable to complete the journey.
The Strait of Gibraltar is located between Spain and Morocco. It connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and peninsular Spain in Europe, from Morocco and Ceuta in Africa. The straight was not Haynsworth’s longest swim — that was a 9 1/2 hour swim across the Long Island Sound — but it was the most difficult due to the environmental conditions in the treacherous channel.
Haynsworth is currently pursuing a doctorate in public health and is working on a program to increase drowning prevention strategies for underserved populations.