Channel Swimmer, 20, Dies 8 Miles From French Coast

A 20-year-old Brazilian woman died Tuesday night after trying to swim the English Channel, the coast guard said.

Renata Camara Agondi was pulled from the sea and into her escort boat when she encountered difficulty 8 miles from Cap Gris Nez on the French coast at about 7 p.m. local time.

A British Air Force rescue helicopter summoned from Manston in southeast England took her from the boat to Calais, France, but she died in an ambulance en route to a hospital there, a coast guard spokesman said.

The spokesman, speaking anonymously in keeping with British custom, said there was “nothing untoward” in weather conditions.

Dr. Christopher Stockdale, medical officer for the Dover-based Channel Swimming Assn., said Agondi was a marathon swimmer of worldwide status who three weeks ago successfully completed a world championship swimming race of similar distance.

The cause of death was not determined immediately. Stockdale said fatigue and hypothermia were possible factors in her death.

He said a doctor examined her Aug. 12 and found her fit. Stockdale added that Agondi appeared in perfect physical condition and was in good spirits before setting off from Dover for France Tuesday morning.

The distance from the southeast English port of Dover to the nearest point in France is 21 miles, but winds, tides and currents make the crossing longer for swimmers.

At least three other people are known to have died trying to swim the channel since the first recognized swim in 1875 by Matthew Webb, an English merchant navy captain. The last previous death was in 1984.

Fewer than one in 10 attempts to swim the channel are successful.

About 300 people, the youngest age 12 and the oldest 68, have conquered the waterway, and a few of them have done it several times.