Swimming group Marglytturnar (Jellyfish) finished their relay swim across the English channel just before 9 pm yesterday. The last swimmer, Halldóra Gyða Matthíasdóttir Proppé took the last strokes at 20.53, after 15 hours of relay swimming from Dover, England to Cap Gris, France. The swim was intended to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the ocean.
Marglytturnar is a group of six swimmers, Birna Bragadóttir, Brynhildur Ólafsdóttir, Sigrún Þ. Geirsdóttir, Sigurlaug maría Jónsdóttir, Þórey Vilhjálmsdóttir, and Halldóra Gyða Matthíasdóttir. In addition, Gréta Ingþórsdóttir and Soffía Sigurgeirsdóttir helped organize the event. Birna Bragadóttir told RÚV that the journey went swimmingly, as evident by the fact that they reached their destination. “We’ve tuned together as a team and have waited for this patiently so we just got to work, encouraged one another and everyone did their part. It’s a goal we set two years ago and it’s incredible that we’ve reached it. As soon as we got over the hardest part, it was extremely exciting.”
The purpose of the swim was to raise awareness of plastic pollution and its effect on the ocean’s ecosystem. Marglytturnar are raising funds for Blái herinn, an environmental organization focused on fighting plastic pollution and cleaning Iceland’s beaches.
