An East Village swimmer completes open-water swimming's Triple Crown

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy

English Channel photos by Keith Nelson 

East Village resident Juliet Kadlecek recently completed the Triple Crown of open-water swimming — an elite ultramarathon challenge that includes the California-Catalina Channel and the 20 Bridges Swim Around Manhattan — capping it off with a successful crossing of the English Channel. 

Juliet, who manages operations at a small real-estate management company, returned to New York last Thursday. We met and discussed overcoming a DNF ("did not finish") on her first English Channel attempt, returning three years later to finish the job, competing in endurance sports as a woman in her 50s, training for ice-water swimming at Brighton Beach — and the best things to eat and drink while swimming for nearly 11 hours. 

What was going through your mind when you finally reached the other side of the English Channel after nearly 11 hours in the water? 

I was so happy I made it. 

Three years ago, in 2023, I had a DNF, which means "did not finish." I got pulled out about 500 meters from the shore. And it really is one of the hardest things... I was talking to a swimmer friend of mine this morning on the beach. She does marathon running as well. She did not finish her first marathon a year ago, and we were just commiserating. She finished running her marathon this year just under the time limit. She's not a fast runner, but she loves running. 

We were talking about how hard it is when you don't finish something you feel you've trained for and are ready for, and what it’s like to go back and finish it. My time was pretty good too. It made me feel good, and like, whew, OK. I wasn't crazy! 

When you said you had a DNF, you were pulled out 500 meters from the shore; were you physically removed from the water? What does it mean to be pulled out? 

I was swimming, and I started at an odd time. I was finishing in pitch black, and I was swimming away from the boat, and they were having a hard time communicating with me. And I don't hear super well when I’m in the water, and at that point I had been swimming for 12 hours already, and I couldn't hear, and I was a little confused and tired. 

And someone jumped in the water, swam after me, and grabbed my ankle. And once someone touches you, if you touch someone, or you touch the boat, your swim is over. 

OK, so someone from your team? 

Yeah, someone from my team was told by the boat pilot to get in and get me out because he was worried for my safety. 

Were you in agreement with that assessment? 

Not 100%, no. I was tired and exhausted, but I could have made it through the last, you know, 20 minutes of swimming that needed to happen to finish. But I didn't know where I was going, and there was a communication issue between us. And I was really tired. 

So that was one thing I learned on this swim. This time, the whole day and a half before my swim, I napped. I slept as much as I could. I tried to prepare my body so that I was ready. And when I got in the water, for the first couple of hours, I felt so relaxed and so well rested. I was like, this is going to be a good swim; I can just tell from the start. 

When did swimming the English Channel first become a goal for you, and when did you realize that completing the Triple Crown was actually within reach? 

I used to swim as a kid, and then I stopped when I was 16. 

I started again at 46. I was just pool swimming, and by 48, I started doing open-water events. I kept swimming longer and longer distances over the course of a couple of years. 

So by the end of 2019, I knew that I wanted to pursue the Triple Crown and to do longer swims in general. I had initially signed up for Catalina, which is a similar swim to the English Channel, distance-wise, with more wildlife and less tidal current. It’s almost a straight shot across from Catalina Island to California. I signed up for that for 2020. It got canceled because of COVID, but luckily, I was able to do 20 Bridges that year because they were taking local swimmers. I swam around Manhattan in 2020 and swam Catalina in 2021. 

When I had my Catalina date, I tried to sign up for the English Channel. It was a three-year wait! I didn’t get in to do my first swim until 2023, and then I had the DNF. The next date I was offered was in 2026. It took me almost seven years to do this.

Can you take us through what it’s like? It’s Aug. 7; you enter the water at 4:33 a.m. What were the conditions like? Was there a point when you thought, you know, OK, I’m really going to do this? You mentioned being relaxed; did that factor in? 

I think it factored in a lot. Feeling relaxed and well-rested was everything. We met the boat at 3:45 a.m. at the marina in Dover. Then my crew and I motored over to Samphire Hoe, where the swim starts. They just park the boat a few hundred yards from the shore, they shine a light on shore, and you jump in the water, and you swim to shore. 

Once you're out and ready to swim, you put your arms in the air and start swimming. The first hour was in the dark, but in England by 5:30 a.m. it's first light, so the sunrise was happening, and it was good. The water temperature is amazingly warm right now. It was between 68 and 70 degrees the entire swim, which is really warm for the English Channel.

So no wetsuit, no dry suit? 

No, just bathing suit, cap, goggles. 

Any application of anything on the body? 

Yeah, I put sunblock on, and then Sudocrem, which is like butt paste, just to cover my skin, all over my back and the backs of my legs, for sun protection. 

And lanolin on my neck and under my arms for chafing. I put Sudocrem all over my face too so I wouldn't get burnt on my cheeks and my nose. And then I swim. 

My pattern is that I swim for two hours straight before I get my first feed. Basically, I have a super-starch-type carbohydrate feed.

GU Energy Gel?

It's not GU; it’s a powder that you mix with water. I have that, and then I had an applesauce for my first feed. 

Are they just chucking it into the water? 

Yeah! On the boat there’s a rope. Keith would throw the feeds to me each time, which was nice because then I could see him every time I fed. 

Keith [Nelson] is your partner? 

Yes. And my friend Martha was my head crew. Plus my friend Julie, who’s local to the UK. We've been in the same swim chat group together, about 10 of us female swimmers, all around the same age, just chatting, talking about our swims, and helping with moral support. 

I swam for two hours, got a feed, and then I feed every hour after that. Every hour they would dangle the feed from the rope. I'd swim up to the boat, and then they’d throw it into the water. I'd grab it and feed. 

Are you wearing an earpiece? 

No, that's the hardest part. I wear earplugs so I don't get an ear infection. I can't really hear well, so we kept communication to a minimum. I would just shout up if I needed stuff. 

There are these really disgusting packets called CrampFix. They almost taste like mustard packets, which I should have just bought because they're cheaper. I would ask for that every once in a while, when I felt a cramp coming on, so they knew to give it to me with my next feed. Then I got extra chafing on my neck, so I asked for Bag Balm, and they just electrical-taped it to a carabiner and threw it. I would just sit there in the water and put it on. 

Is there a return? Or is it still attached? 

It's a return. They just pull the rope up, clean the bottles out, and get ready for the next feed. 

They're keeping you on schedule. So, you know what is coming? 

Yeah, I make my feed schedule. Every time I have tea, I get a snack. I have little chocolate pudding squeeze packs, I have applesauce, banana… so I get a little solid food and make it not all liquid-diet calories, because it's hard on your stomach. 

Super-starches are hard on your stomach, and you're in the English Channel, which is very, very, very salty. So you swallow, you take in a lot of salt, and your body just absorbs all the salt in the ocean. Even your tongue hurts. I had mouthwash attached to my feeds as well, so I could swish it around in my mouth to help with the salt. 

Are you drinking water? 

Well, the feeds are made with water, but I'm not drinking just water alone; I'm drinking my feeds. 

Also, we ran out of mouthwash. Apparently, there was a leak in the bottle, but they didn't tell me. They just said, "Oh, you're out of mouthwash" … but we had some flat Coke on board. So they gave me Coca-Cola instead. Just to have something soothing and familiar. That helps.

Some people eat food. There was another girl out there that was eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! That I could not do. The banana I can eat, you know, cause it's simple and easy. But chewing and stuff and, you know, just something getting stuck in your teeth — the idea of it — yeah, just not good for me. 

You completed this swim 100 years ago and one day after fellow New Yorker Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to cross the Channel. How aware were you of that anniversary? And did her story have any special meaning or significance for you?

I knew about it from the get-go. She's amazing! 

When I had the DNF in 2023, I went with the same boat pilot to take me across this time. He said, I can give you a first-hold slot. They call it a first hold, second hold…I can give you a first slot on Aug. 6 through 10. And since it’s in 2026, it would be the anniversary. It was kind of a big deal. I really wanted to go on the 6th, but the wind was too strong, so we waited a day. 

She's amazing and a pioneer. She also had a DNF, then came back and swam it again. It's important to me as a woman to get out there and do it, especially when you fail, to go back and say, failure doesn't stop us.

We just keep fighting. I feel that’s something that is important to say: You don't have to stop. You can come back — from anything. Coming back to swimming and finding it again, a couple of years before my divorce, I think it's what made me brave enough to ask for a divorce. The community is kick-ass and filled with strong, amazing, smart, and kind people who are there to support each other. 

And it's a sport where there are people on the boat. I get emotional about this…it's like being in a perpetual trust fall. You are in the water, and you're asking people to take care of you. You're just swimming. It's amazing to know you have a community that is going to do that for you, and you are confident and trusting them to do it. 

You finished in 10 hours and 56 minutes, which is an extraordinary time. Were you trying for a particular time? 

I was just trying to finish. I don't even think I understood what my time was. I count my feeds, and I feed every hour, but I had no actual idea. I knew 12 hours was a possibility, and it could be more or less depending on conditions and how I'm feeling, as long as I don't get any injuries or get stung by too many jellyfish or the wind — the wind was kind of strong, and I was getting sloshed around a little bit. 

Luckily, for the last few hours, they moved me to the other side of the boat so they could protect me. 

Are you wearing a Fitbit, Garmin Swim or any special navigational aids? 

No. You follow the boat. Your boat knows where it needs to go, and they know what the currents are doing. They have radar and a sonar system, and they are following the AIS system. They know how to get you across in the best way for the speed that you’re moving and what the currents are doing. 

You're a year-round swimmer at Brighton Beach. What does training for something like the English Channel crossing involve, especially while living in New York City?

It's really hard in New York City, I have to admit. It's hard, but we're lucky because we have Brighton Beach. I train at Brighton Beach, and I swim at the McBurney Y. I also do ice swimming. I'm at the beach three times a week, and at the pool three times a week, and then I have a rest day. 

Are you impervious to cold? 

I would not say that. I get cold. I actually get cold in the air much more easily than I do in the water. 

Is that because you're moving? 

Yeah, when I’m in the water, I’m moving. The hardest part about swimming in the cold water is knowing that you have to get out and get dressed afterward. Your hands hurt, and it's hard to get dressed quickly. 

Over the years, I've developed a system that is almost perfect for getting dressed and warm as quickly as possible. But it’s still something I think about when I'm in the water, like, "Oh my God, I've got to get out and get dressed." I use lukewarm water, like tap water, and a little bucket. 

And I stand in the bucket and pour the water over my feet. My feet are frozen, so I need to get the feeling back. I dip my hands in the water, then I dry off. The second I can move my hands well again, I start to get dressed. I’ll train all winter. 

This year I'm going to Romania for the World Ice Championships. The International Ice Swimming Association holds global championships every two years. The hardest part is when I start bulking up my training distance. I slowly ramp it up so that it peaks about two to three weeks before my swim. 

In February, the water's too cold to be doing any long distance, so I'm stuck doing it in the pool. Oh my God, it’s so boring! It’s chlorine and a 25-yard pool, so you're constantly doing flip turns. You're there forever. It’s not ideal.

Anything special you want to say about the journey? 

I want to promote open-water swimming and the idea that at 56, you can do amazing things. And that…if you fail at something, that doesn't mean you can't do that thing. That just means that that one time you didn’t finish. And you can always come back to unfinished business and get things done. 

The open-water swim community is amazing and welcoming. If you swim, come on down to Brighton Beach and join us.

You can follow Juliet on Instagram here.