The Strait of Bonifacio (French: Bouches de Bonifacio; Italian: Bocche di Bonifacio) is the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, named after the Corsican town Bonifacio. It is 11 km wide and divides the Tyrrhenian Sea from the western Mediterranean Sea. The strait is notorious among sailors for its weather, currents, shoals, and other obstacles. (WIKIPEDIA)

The original open water swimming race in 1959 went from Bonifacio (Corsica – France) to Santa Teresa Gallura (Sardinia – Italy). That was the first and only edition in the 1900s.  After that there was several solo crossings until 2018, when the event back to life thanks to NAL.

VIDEO: the Hungarian Magda Molnar, the Egyptian Sayed Gelin and the Italian brothers Ruggero and Paolo Ciacci swimming the strait in 1959.

Sources say that during the race the Egyptian was leading the race but on a wrong trajectory,  therefore the Italians managed to take advantage of it. Ruggero Ciacci reached the beach first, winning the challenge.