Massachusetts woman swims across English Channel
A Massachusetts woman who has been swimming her entire life and more recently has been taking part in competitive marathon swimming can now add swimming across the English Channel to her list of life accomplishments.
Natalie Lang, who lives in Watertown, is a social worker for children in grades K through 5 at the Kennedy-Longfellow School in Cambridge.
Lang said she completed her "pinnacle goal" of swimming across the English Channel — on her first try — in August.
The 21-mile journey from the United Kingdom to France took her 12 hours and 6 minutes.
"The feeling at the end is amazing. It's unbelievable," Lang said. "To have pushed your own physical and mental limits that way. And it's also very soothing to me. You're just in the zone. You're moving, you're breathing. It's meditative."
Lang trains much of the year at Walden Pond as well as the Atlantic Ocean.
She's quick to point out that accomplishing her goals involves a lot of teamwork, including from her husband Gordon and mentor Elaine Howley, who were with her last month when she crossed into French waters.