Montserrat Tresserras

On 26 August, 65-year-old Pat Gallant-Charette (USA) celebrating her 5th channelversary of her 15 hour 57 minute English Channel crossing, Shelley Taylor-Smith (Australia) celebrating her 21st channelversary of her 9 hour 27 minute English Channel crossing, and 82-year-old Montserrat Tresserras (Spain) celebrating her 53rd channelversary of her 21 hour 7 minute English Channel crossing at Varne Ridge near Dover

Montserrat Tresserras receiving the Real Orden del Merito Deportivo from H.R.A. Infanta Cristina

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Montserrat Tresserras Dou (nickname Monti, died 26 November 2018 at 88 years old) was a Spanish open water swimmer who was inducted as an Honour Swimmer in 1970 to the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and served as the Vice President of the Channel Swimming Association. She is also the namesake of the Montserrat Tresserras Cup and the Montserrat Tresserras Shield, an award given by the Channel Swimming Association to the Fastest Men's Relay (not 6 swimmers) in the English Channel.

Marathon Swimming Career

Montserrat was a pioneer of many marathon swims.
She was the first Spanish women to swim the Strait of Gibraltar in 1956 in 5 hours 18 minutes.
She was the first Spaniard to swim the English Channel in 1958.
In 1961, she again crossed the English Channel in the opposite direction from France to England to become the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.
In 1969, she swam the Menorca Channel from the island of Menorca to the island of Majorca in Spain in 21 hours 10 minutes.
In 1969, she swam across Lough Neagh in 16 hours 14 minutes.
She swam from Santa Fe to Coronda in Argentina.
She swam from Concordia in Argentina to Columbus, Uruguay.
In 1970 she was 4th in the Galway Bay swim from Ballyvaughan, Co Clare to Salthill, Co Galway (perhaps 15.8 km).
She swan 14 miles from Limerick to Shannon Airport in 7 hours 25 minutes later in the 1970s.

She served on the Board of Directors of both the Channel Swimming Association and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and acted as an official observer on many attempts to swim the English Channel and across the Strait of Gibraltar.
She was a 2011 recipient of the Real Orden del Merito Deportivo awarded to her by H.R.A. Infanta Cristina representing the Spanish Government.
She was a long-time representative and Vice President of the Channel Swimming Association.

She was the subject of Montserrat Tresserras, la vencedora del canal, a book published in 1959.
She was the author of Nadando El Estrecho, Sus Orígenes Y Su Historia (Swimming the Strait, Its Origin and History), an authoritative book on swimming the Strait of Gibraltar.