Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina and a group of smaller islands including Cape Horn. Initially discovered by Ferdinand Magellan's expedition in 1520, the islands were not settled by people of European descent until the second half of the 19th century at the height of the sheep farming and gold rush booms.

Today's economic activity in the northern part of Tierra del Fuego is dominated by petroleum extraction while in the south tourism, manufacturing and Antarctic logistics are important. The numbers of the native Selk'nam and Yaghans were greatly reduced by introduced diseases and by unequal conflicts with settlers. Today the Selk'nam are practically extinct as a distinct people, with all of their very few descendants being mestizos and their language extinct. Some of the few remaining Yaghans have settled in Villa Ukika in Navarino Island, others have scattered across Chile and Argentina. Tierra del Fuego hosts large areas protected as national parks and reserves, most of them in the mountainous south.

Open Water Swimming

• Michelle Macy crossed the Beagle Channel from Glacier Italia on Tierra del Fuego to Gordon Island in Chile, a 2 km crossing in 7.3°C (45°F) water in 33 minutes 51 seconds that established a new swim route offered by Patagonia Swim.
• Bárbara Hernández swam 5.5 km between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean in the Magallanes, including swimming a mile in 15 minutes 3 seconds.

External links

• Bárbara Hernández Swims For Another Record In Cape Horn
• Claudio Plit Talks About Internal and External Adventure On WOWSA Live
• Matías Ola, Uniting The World Through The Open Water
• The Female Tradition Continues In The Cold Water
• Ger Kennedy's Antarctica 2020 Swim
• Irish Celebration Of Ice Swimming To The End Of The World
• Michelle May Sets Two Records In Patagonia
• A Dream Series Of Swim In Patagonia With Nuala Moore
• Francisco Aguirre Completes A Straits Of Magellan Crossing
• Stephen Junk Completes A Straits Of Magellan Crossing
• Jaimie Monahan To Be Honored Globally...Again
• Nature Or Nurture In The Open Water
• Open Water Swimming Long, Long Ago In Chile
• Nadadores de Aguas Frias In Argentina