The celebrated marathon swimmer Dina Levačić announced yet another impressive venture in her already marvelous swimming career.
Croatian long-distance swimmer Dina Levačić (22), who originally hails from Solin, announced her upcoming trip to Hawaii where she intends to swim the Molokai Canal, which is 42 kilometers long, reports Gol.hr on August 6, 2018.
“I travel to Hawaii in two weeks where I will swim the 42 kilometer Molokai canal,” Levačić said at the City Administration of her native Solin where she was honored with a reception.
On July 28 this year, Dina Levačić hoped to overcome the 54-kilometer stretch from Vis to the Split Riva, but stopped three kilometers short of the goal due to difficulties with the sea current. On Monday, Dina also announced that she would return to this section of the sea and tackle it in the future.
“I’m convinced that this will not be unfinished business, and sometime in the future, I will go out and do it,” Levačić said, referring to her recent attempt that the legendary Veljko Rogošić was able to complete in 1975.
Mayor of Solin Dalibor Ninčević said that Dina Levačić is the pride of this city.
“Although she did not complete the entire Vis – Split route, she is a winner for us, and her engagement in marathon swimming is inspirational,” Ninčević said.
The open swimming champion and member of the long-distance swimming club in Split first recorded impressive results at her Argentine tour at the age of 17, placing fourth in the Rosario marathon and securing sixth place in the 57-kilometer marathon from Santa Fe to Coronda. This Argentine trifecta was the longest open-swimming marathon in the world, following an 88-kilometer route. Dina finished in less than 10.5 hours, and placed 5th overall, less than an hour after the winner of the competition.
Dina then accepted the marathon challenge of her career – the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. It began with the Marathon Island Marathon Swim, which saw the Split native swim 48.5 km in 7:33:50. Dina then tackled the Catalina Channel, where she swam 32.5 km in 9:47:53. The infamous part of the Triple Crown, however, was the English Channel – a 33.7 km stretch between England and France. Dina completed the challenge in 11 hours and 42 minutes and thus became the first Croatian female athlete to swim the La Manche in its entirety, and the first Croatian athlete to complete the Triple Crown. Not to mention that Dina is also Dina the sixth athlete in history to have completed the Triple Crown in under 90 days.
No stranger to the act of giving back, Dina always makes sure she serves a purpose outside of being a champion of the sea. As part of the Sv. Duje celebration two years ago, Dina swam from Trogir to Split for the ‘Anđeli’ Association, and for the event last year, from Omiš to Split for ‘Moje dijete’ in Solin. Dina did not stop for this year’s festivities, and in honor of Sveti Duje, Dina swam for the ‘Mir’ Rehabilitation Center.
