Princess Charlene shows stamina on 180 km Mediterranean crossing

On Sunday 13 September, Princess Charlene and her team won the Water Bike Challenge, a charity race organised by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.

It took Team Serenity 22 hours and 33 minutes to cover the 180 km between Calvi (Corsica) and Monaco. After a difficult race in a rough sea, the team’s four athletes crossed the finish line together. Prince Albert and the twins Gabriella and Jacques welcomed Princess Charlene as she arrived at Monaco’s Yacht Club.

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A close race

Team Notorious was led by Gareth Wittstock, the Princess’ brother and General Secretary of the foundation. Serenity’s win was a close call. Notorious crossed the finish line only 14 minutes after its rival and had the upper hand for the first half of the race, before being caught up by Serenity. Team Notorious held its ground but was eventually taken over by Serenity. To relive the race, go to the Foundation’s website.

The Calvi-Monaco rally wasn’t a mere sporting challenge. The Mediterranean crossing was organised to raise awareness about the work of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation which is heavily involved in the fight against drowning. The Calvi-Monaco Water Bike Race raised 358,790 euros. The amount will finance two of the foundation’s programs – “Learn to Swim” and “Water Safety” – which run swimming and drowning prevention lessons in over thirty countries around the world.