Congratulations to James Norton who overcame windy conditions to traverse Lake Bolsena in four hours and nine minutes setting a new record, more of which later.
James started from Capodimonte and completed his swim at the famous Le Naiadi Park Hotel sul Lago, where on occasion successful swimmers can expect to be greeted by the hotel's maitre d' with a glass of prosecco to celebrate a successful crossing of the lake. This greeting of natational merit hasn't happened yet, but dreams can come true. However there was a plus in that the King of the Lake Bolsena commended James on his successful traversata.
A peaceful smooth start was how the swim began at 08:30, but conditions turned lumpy for James after 8kms. The final four kms were completed in winds gusting up to 20kms an hour, but this proved straightforward for the Canadian English Channel solo swimmer.
Striking a consistent 67 strokes per minute for four hours, James made light of the conditions to join the growing list of Serpentine swimmers who have swam the lake. James enters the record books as the first Canadian to swim the lake. The list of Serpentine SC swimmers who have comleted the traverse of Lake Bolsena include:
John Tierney IRL (3 times)
Kristy McInttyre AUS
Mark Fabik GB
Sakura Adams GB
Nick Adams GB
Dani Lobo SPA
