At the age of nine, she joined classical dance. This was not a technical choice, it was a medical one, as a few months ago I was hit by a speeding Torino and ended up with a concussion in hospital.
After the end-of-year exhibition, her mother said to her: “Giulietta, two things could happen here. First, you were not made for dancing. Second, this academy is a disaster. This was your last year, and we will not waste any more time.” Later he tried tennis. In the third grade, the teacher said to his brother: “Don’t bring her to me anymore. Instead of her legs, she has two lampposts.”
At the age of 12, Julietta O’Connor developed a very bad case of infectious mononucleosis. The day he was released from the hospital he jumped out of it happiness He felt severe pain in his pelvis. They did an x-ray and found an aneurysmal cyst in my left iliac. She had to have surgery and they gave her a hip graft.. With this background, he was completely excluded from the world of sports for a long time.
“Not excelling at any sport helped me Expect nothing and be grateful for everything What he can do. While everyone in my family was sailing, skiing, or surfing, my father would throw me into the river strapped into a life jacket and there I would float for hours, happy, alone. Feeling watery“, Julieta remembers, in one of the paragraphs at the beginning He crosses. From one point to another, from one idea to another, from one version of yourself to another.It is a book he wrote after he successfully completed a swim across the Rio de la Plata.
One day, when Giulietta was 39, she started running. It started little by little, then came the long-awaited 15km and half marathon. In October 2016, he ran 42 kilometers in the Buenos Aires Marathon, but as a result of the effort, he injured his iliopsoas muscle again. The doctor said forcefully: “Normal life is not running a marathon. That bone is almost hollow. You can’t run that much.”“.
“All those frustrations served me well. “My only stick was the girl who was taken out of the dance, the one who couldn’t play tennis, the one who used canes and crutches, the one who floated down the river without daring to do more than feel the water,” O’Connor reflects on the obstacles she had to overcome to achieve her goal.
So, after his doctor’s warning, he decided to try his luck at swimming.. He was 41 years old. I took an open water course at Villa Geselle with some friends and the “crazy idea” of swimming across the Río de la Plata began to take shape.
The first crossing was performed as a team and in relays, swimming in 30-minute bouts. Then came increasingly difficult challenges: the Vuelta de Obligado (21 km via Paraná) and the crossing from San Nicolas to San Pedro (70 km), which he completed in 12 hours and 23 minutes.
On December 8, 2023, she departed for Uruguay, ready to swim across the Río de la Plata, from Colonia to Punta Lara. “In my head I just thought: ‘If you get through it blow by blow, don’t be afraid.'” Juliet remembers. According to statistics, no more than 40 percent of those trying to achieve their goal.
He jumped into the water in the middle of a stormy night with five other swimmers who also made the attempt. At that moment there were no nerves, not even fear. Giulietta had such great emotion that it did not enter her body.
“I could feel the water between my fingers, smell the river, and hear the waves. It was the river and me, nothing more. -Remembers-. Every hit kept me there. present. “I sweep through those waves that came from behind, and I feel how they pushed me forward, helped me move forward.”
Each swimmer was accompanied by a support boat, on which a guide, lifeguard and skipper traveled. After several hours of crossing, at one point she felt as if she was falling asleep. He couldn’t keep his eyes open and started dreaming. Every now and then she would wake up, almost desperate, to see if he had gotten out of the boat, but no. The distance remained the same. “Something magical was happening, I discovered the talent of sleeping, swimming and following the boat at the same time. Today I learned that this is called flow“When your head works without thinking and without suffering from action.” He explains.
Thus, he reached the last distance of five thousand meters before entering Argentine territory, where the current was against him and the wind and waves were in front of him, which was the most difficult part of the journey. It is no coincidence that most abandonment cases occur on this section of the road.
“It is known that the crossing begins after the miter, which is where the river places another great filter and decides who will cross it. Everything gets complicated at that point. You’ve been swimming for over 12 hours and they’re asking you to do your best now, as if you were playing before.
With the last energy he had left, he kept going until at one point he felt like he was touching the bottom of the river with his feet. After swimming for 14.46 hours, he finally accomplished this great feat.
“I did not swim alone. I never did. And now I know that I did not come for myself, but for all those who, in silence, carried me on the litter above the water.”. I had come specifically for my guides, who were able to contain me, who were willing to deliver me to the river just to fulfill my request and who respected my decision. “This to me is teamwork.”concludes Julietta O’Connor.
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