A month after the Spotlight chronicled Christine Coppola’s preparations for a second attempt at the English Channel, the Shenandoah swimmer reached France after nearly 14 hours in the water — completing open-water swimming’s Triple Crown.
A month ago, Shenandoah resident Christine Coppola told the Spotlight she was returning to the English Channel “for redemption.”
On Aug. 23, she got it.
Coppola swam from England to France in 13 hours and 53 minutes, completing a crossing that had eluded her a year earlier and, with it, the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.
She is now one of approximately 400 swimmers to have completed all three legs of the Triple Crown, according to the Marathon Swimmers Federation.
“It’s just breathtakingly beautiful,” Coppola said of looking out onto the vast English Channel before beginning her swim, with the White Cliffs of Dover behind her. “And I felt privileged to be able to actually get to the starting line finally.”
Read more: Against the Tide: Local Swimmer Tackles the English Channel
Coppola arrived in England without knowing exactly when she would swim. Another swimmer was slated to go before her, so Coppola had to remain flexible during her window. But the weather accelerated her plans.
The weather for Sunday, when the other, slower swimmer was scheduled to start, began looking rough. Coppola was able to swap times with her at about 7 p.m. the night before, and suddenly it was her turn.
“It’s so lucky the way everything kind of lines up,” Coppola said. “It’s serendipitous.”
Her captain and coach warned her that the end of her journey would be the most treacherous. She would have to be prepared to “dig deep” to make it to the end.
During the swim, Coppola’s interest in World War II gave her plenty to reflect on.
“I remember just swimming and thinking, underneath me is a graveyard of ships and pilot planes and all those things,” she said. “So many people fought so that I could have the freedom to swim the English Channel for fun.”
After hours of counting strokes and swimming steadily, Coppola could see the coast of France.
But she was not moving any closer.
She had become caught in a strong current. For two hours, Coppola was stuck swimming in place.
That’s when doubt began to creep in.
“Your mind goes into like, ‘Am I going to make it?’” she said. “‘Can I actually do this?’”
Coppola said thoughts of her late father, who helped start her passion for swimming, were among the things that encouraged her to push through the current and reach the shore.
Her father, an athlete who encouraged her love of sports, died from a COVID-19-related illness during the pandemic. Coppola previously told the Spotlight that swimming had become a way to honor his memory.
Finally, at 8:16 p.m., Coppola reached France.
She said she was filled with a sense of relief as she struggled to get her “land legs” back.
The crossing completed a quest Coppola had been pursuing for years. She had already completed the Catalina Channel swim in California and the 20 Bridges Swim around Manhattan, leaving the English Channel as the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Her first attempt at the Channel in 2025 never got started because of bad weather. She spent nearly two weeks in England waiting for conditions to improve before having to return home.
This time, she returned to Miami having accomplished what she set out to do.
After finishing the swim Sunday evening, Coppola was back at work the following Tuesday. She said she was excited to return and was welcomed back by colleagues who had followed her journey.
For now, Coppola is letting the achievement sink in before jumping into another swimming adventure. Of the three swims she completed to attain the Triple Crown, she said the English Channel was certainly the most difficult.
“I would do it again,” she said. “I just wouldn’t do it tomorrow.”
