Sonoma Valley residents Kaeti Bailie and her daughter Allyson Etherington recently swam together in the 37th International Bosphorus Cross Continental Swim in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosphorus is a 30 kilometer strait that divides Istanbul and joins the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. This year, over 3,000 swimmers from 81 countries made the crossing.
The Bosphorus is one of the busiest waterways in the world, but traffic is halted for this annual swim. Kaeti explains that, “The iconic swim is considered by many to be one of the best open water competitions in the world. The 6.5 kilometer swim requires skilful navigation to avoid the reverse current; a swimmer caught in its eddy cannot make her way forward.” Kaeti adds that the banks of the strait are lined with historic structures from the Greek, Roman, Christian and Ottoman periods.
The name Bosphorus comes from the Greek legend that Zeus had an affair with a beautiful woman named Io. When Hera, his wife, discovered this, Zeus turned Io into a cow in an attempt to hide her. But Hera wasn’t fooled and sent a horse fly to sting her. Io was so tormented she variously swam, or jumped, clear across the strait. Thus “bous” (cow) plus “poros” (crossing), the “crossing-place of the cow.”
Kaeti commented, “As Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul, the city has been the capital of three empires, each leaving their mark in the form of stunning palaces, mosques and churches. It is uniquely European and Asian at the same time.”
The original plan was for Allyson’s daughter Kimberly Uzzo to join her mother and grandmother for a three-generation swim. But Kimberly underwent surgery for thyroid cancer just ten days before the August 24 race. She has made a full recovery and is now cancer-free. The three-generation-team, who swam the Maui Channel Relay last year, plans to swim the Bosphorus in 2026.
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