Swimming across the English Channel is one of the most impressive feats of human endurance. As the crow flies, the distance from the White Cliffs of Dover to Cap Gris-Nez is 21 miles, but in that gap lie furious tides, hundreds of boats and millions of jellyfish.
Marblehead native Molly Zelloe grew up swimming for the North Shore Sharks swim team. After her coach, Andy Jones, returned from swimming the Channel, Zelloe, who was 16 at the time, became interested in making a crossing of her own.
“I was never very good at going fast or racing,” said Zelloe. “I just had a feeling I could swim for forever.”
After being sidelined with an injury less than a week into her career as a rower on the Smith College crew team, Zelloe’s dream of swimming the Channel came back to the forefront of her mind. Almost immediately after she got off crutches, she locked in her decision to take on the Channel, registering to cross during the week of August 9-16, 2025.
“I just enjoyed swimming and working out as ways of helping with mental health and appreciating my body, particularly after recovering from surgery,” she said. “I needed a new goal and figured this would be a substantial enough challenge.”
After continuing to develop her base over the course of two years, she sought out the coaching of British ultramarathon swimmer, Amy Ennion, in January. Ennion helped Zelloe create a training plan and make final preparations for her August crossing date.
Zelloe arrived in England a week in advance of her crossing slot, waiting in Dover for suitable conditions and the “okay” from her Channel pilot.
“It was a lot of hurry up and wait,” said Zelloe of her time on the English coast.
With fair skies and seas forecasted, Zelloe planned to cross on Aug. 15, but was informed the day prior by her pilot that the boat which would accompany her had become unseaworthy, seemingly closing the window for her crossing.
When a swimmer’s crossing slot closes, they are forced to make a decision: go home and re-register for another attempt or wait in the queue and hope a slot opens up. Zelloe chose to try her luck and use the extra week she had planned to stay in England in hopes of getting another opportunity.
That opportunity would come knocking just a few days later when her pilot informed her that a slot had opened on Aug. 22.
Zelloe began her trek towards the French coast from the beach at Samphire Hoe at around 11:15 a.m. local time.
“The first couple hours were a little rocky, but we had a beautiful day,” said Zelloe. “My goggles leaked about 30-minutes in, but after a goggle change, I entered a flow state.”
After five-and-a-half hours of swimming, Zelloe fell victim to her first jellyfish sting. A sign of things to come, she swam through swarms of the venomous sea creatures during the final three hours of her swim.
“I got six really bad stings,” she said. “I was covered in hives for a week after the swim.”
However, Zelloe battled through the pain, regaining her focus time and time again until, after 11 hours, 23 minutes of swimming she reached the French coast where she was greeted by a bottle of cognac supplied by locals enjoying the night on the beach.
“My head was absolutely empty for the entire boat ride back to England,” said Zelloe. “When you finish something like that, there’s this sense of disbelief. It’s very surreal.”
