Kimberley Chambers
Personal information
NationalityNew Zealand
BornNew Zealand
Sport
SportSwimming

Kimberley Chambers is a marathon open water swimmer from New Zealand.[1] She is the sixth person in the world to complete the Ocean's Seven swimming challenge.[2][3] In 2015, she became the first woman to swim from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge – a distance of about 30 miles.[4]

Life

Chambers was born in New Zealand and grew up on a sheep farm near Te Kūiti in the King Country in the North Island.[5] She moved to San Francisco when she was 17 years old to study for a master's degree in science at the University of California, Berkeley.[6]

In 2007, Chambers suffered a fall while walking down stairs and almost had her leg amputated; she was diagnosed with acute compartment syndrome and warned it was likely she would never be able to walk unaided.[6] She spent two years in physical therapy and took up swimming to develop her strength, followed by ocean swimming as a challenge. She joined two open water swimming clubs in San Francisco: Dolphin Club and South End Rowing Club.[7] She began swimming all over the world, including in New Zealand, where she swam the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands. Within a year she had completed three of the Ocean's Seven challenge swims and went on to complete all seven.[6]

She swam from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco

In August 2015, Chambers became the first woman to swim from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge – a distance of about 30 miles.[4] The same year Chambers was nominated for a Halberg Award in her native New Zealand.[6] In 2017 a documentary film, Kim Swims, was released by independent filmmaker Kate Webber; the film follows Chambers' 2015 Farallon Islands swim.[5]

Chambers supports the efforts of the local pollution watchdog San Francisco Baykeeper, and serves on the organization's Leadership Circle in order to raise awareness about their mission for Bay protection. Many of her swims are also fundraisers for charities, such as the Semper Fi Fund and the Colibri Centre for Human Rights.[8][9]

Chambers is a member of the Explorers Club and she was the first New Zealand woman to be inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.[3]

Recognition

In 2015 she was nominated for the Halberg Awards’ High Performance Sport New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year. At the WOWSA Awards she has won 2013 and 2014 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year and was nominated for 2015 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year.[3]

Swims

DateLocationTypeCoordinatesDescription
Nov, 2016Dead Sea

[10]

Sept, 2016Sacramento to TiburonSolo SwimA 93-mile swim aborted after 54 miles due to strong winds

[11][12][13]

Aug 8, 2015The Farallon IslandsSolo Swim37.6989° N, 123.0034° WFirst woman and fifth person to swim the 30 mile route solo; completed in 17 hours and 12 minutes.[14][15]
Sep 27, 2014North ChannelSolo Swim55° 3′ 27″ N, 5° 37′ 19″ WFirst New Zealander, third woman and sixth person to complete this route.[16]
Jul 3, 2014Tsugaru StraitSolo Swim41.6324° N, 140.6910° E[17]
Sep 13, 2013English ChannelSolo Swim50.1347° N, 0.3571° WCompleted in 12 hours and 12 minutes[18]
Jul 18, 2013The Catalina ChannelSolo Swim33° 23′ 0″ N, 118° 25′ 0″ WA 20.2 mile waterway off Long Beach California[17]
May 1, 2013The Strait of GibraltarSolo Swim35.9982° N, 5.6879° W375th person to complete this route[17]
Nov 10, 2012Molokai ChannelSolo Swim21° 8′ 0″ N, 157° 2′ 0″ W'42 km swim between the islands of O'ahu and Moloka'i in Hawaii[9][19]
Sep 1, 2012San Francisco to Santa BarbaraRelay Swim21° 8′ 0″ N, 157° 2′ 0″ W6-person relay swim 33
August 2012 Lake Tahoe Solo Swim 35 km swim[9]
March 2012 Cook Strait Solo Swim South Island to Wellington[9]
2011 English Channel Relay Swim [13]
2010 Alcatraz to San Francisco Solo Swim [13]

References

  1. ↑ "USMS Swimmers Info". Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  2. ↑ "Kimberley Chambers Achieves Oceans Seven". Daily News - Open Water Swimming. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  3. 1 2 3 Fitzgerald, Quinn (2018-11-11). "Kim Chambers Inducted In International Marathon Swimming Hall Of Fame". WOWSA. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  4. 1 2 "Kim Chambers Swims with Sharks in New Doco - News, Sport, Watersports - NZEDGE". www.nzedge.com. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  5. 1 2 "Kim Chambers Swims Like No Other - Arts, Film & TV, News - NZEDGE". www.nzedge.com. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "The first woman to complete the world's most difficult ocean swim: Kiwi Kim Chambers". Stuff.co.nz. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  7. ↑ "Podcast: Kim Chambers on swimming with sharks off the California coast". 2 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Pan-American Colibri Swim". Pan-American Colibri Swim. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Robinson, James (2013-02-23). "The joys of swimming with sharks". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  10. ↑ Elias, Nir (24 December 2016). "Kiwi Kim Chambers among swimmers who made first Dead Sea crossing in eco campaign". Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  11. ↑ Locke, Cathy; Chang, Jack (10 September 2016). "Woman ends attempt to swim 93 miles from Sacramento to Tiburon". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  12. ↑ Baker, David R. (11 September 2016). "SF swimmer calls off solo swim from Sacramento to Tiburon". SF Gate. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  13. 1 2 3 Skolnick, Adam (2016-09-10). "Marathon Swimmer Falls Short in Bid for a Record Off San Francisco". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  14. ↑ Tracy, Ben. "Woman's dangerous swim to Golden Gate Bridge makes history". Los Angiles: CBS This Morning. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  15. ↑ Ap, Tiffany (11 April 2016). "Kim Chambers set record for 17-hour, shark-infested Golden Gate swim". Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  16. ↑ May, Meredith (15 October 2014). "A battle to walk turns into a long-distance ocean-swimming feat". SF Gate. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  17. 1 2 3 sanne (4 July 2014). "Kim Chambers crosses Tsugaru Straits". Dolphin Club. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  18. ↑ McMahan, Ian (26 October 2016). "How Kim Chambers Became the World's Most Badass Swimmer". Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  19. ↑ Scheuring, Ian. "Woman from New Zealand swims across Kaiwi Channel". Retrieved 2016-12-28.
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