From KWBE

A Lincoln woman made history as the first female to swim the St. Lucia channel.

“I thought of quitting 100 times,” said Molly Nance, “but i’m so glad I didn’t because it really was worth it to make it to the finish”.

Nance made her dreams come true by crossing the channel last week on May 16th.

The stretch of water is between St. Lucia and Martinique islands. It’s 21.2 miles long, and Nance said has only been swam by two men before her.

“What prompted me probably to do this swim was an unsuccessful swim of the English Channel,” said Nance.

For Nance the Atlantic was just too cold, so, she ventured to leave her mark in the Caribbean.

“I did some research. Then, started sending out emails to see if I could find some folks that could help me get it organized, because you do need a support staff and a support crew,” said Nance.

She prepped for more than a year, and then dove in on Wednesday May 16th, determined to finish.

“The island for the longest time, Martinique, didn’t seem to be getting any closer. Bu,t after awhile I could tell that yeah we were making some progress. I had made my own rule that I was not going to ask to get out. So, unless they told me I had to get out for my own safety, I was just going to keep going, stroke after stroke,” said Nance.

There was no stopping. She could only treat water to refuel with liquid.

“It didn’t worry me. I was more excited to be in the ocean and finally doing the swim that I had been dreaming about,” said Nance.

She had a 6 person crew which included her husband who kayaked next to her for most of the journey. The boat was by her side until she finally reached Martinique.

“I just felt so happy for my team, you know not just myself, but it was such a team effort to make it to the finish, and to know that I’ll always be the first woman who did it,” said Nance.

The island of St. Lucia celebrated with her the following days. She said the whole experience was great, but is now resting up before thinking about her next big swim.

For more on this story go to: http://kwbe.com/state-news/lincoln-woman-makes-swimming-history-in-the-caribbean/