César Barría achieves his goal

The athlete of Colón, César Barría achieved his goal this afternoon, swimming across the Strait of Santa Barbara, California, in 7 hours and 45 minutes.

At about 4:00 pm Barria reached the beach in Oxnard, California. His trip began at 8:08 am Panama time and it was assisted throughout by his sister Nuris Barria, his parents, coach, media and volunteers of the National System of Civil Protection.Barría's purpose of this crossing was to show that it is an example of overcoming and that like him,others can achieve their dreams.

One of the anticipated difficulties was that the Panamanian swimmer of 29 years old, would face strong currents in the distance of 20 kilometers from the island of Anacapa, at the end of the challenge. However, according to his team these currents were not present, which allowed him to achieve his goal. During his journey, he was fed with powdered carbohydrate , chocolates and plenty of liquids for hydration. In his official Twitter account Barría highlighted that during his hours in the Santa Barbara strait, he appreciated sea lions.