Yvetta

Hlaváčová

Tulip

World record holder in swimming across the English Channel

Yvetta Hlaváčová Tulip was born in 1975 in Boskovice, Czechoslovakia. She started swimming at the age of six and since her childhood she showed a great potential to become a competition swimmer. She competed in a variety of swimming disciplines: freestyle, butterfly, individual medley, open water marathon swimming.

She is a multiple Champion of Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic and also other countries and she holds a number of Czech, European and world records. Her record time in crossing the English Channel remains unsurpassed.

Yvetta

Hlaváčová

Tulip

World record holder in swimming across the English Channel

Yvetta Hlaváčová Tulip was born in 1975 in Boskovice, Czechoslovakia. She started swimming at the age of six and since her childhood she showed a great potential to become a competition swimmer. She competed in a variety of swimming disciplines: freestyle, butterfly, individual medley, open water marathon swimming.

She is a multiple Champion of Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic and also other countries and she holds a number of Czech, European and world records. Her record time in crossing the English Channel remains unsurpassed.

It is 26th May 1975 and the clock in the corner of the room shows ten past five.  

"Congratulations, Mrs. Hlaváčová, it’s a little girl, 3,850 gram and 57 centimetres."

And that's how it all started. – An innocent creature, a sweet child, well-behaved, nice and compliant, taking her first steps at nine months. And her first word? Water!!! No… not really, I’m just messing, I don’t know actually, I would have to ask.

So, the years went by and I was happily playing on the streets of Diviška in Blansko and my only worries were becoming the captain of my squad or winning a bike race.

Turning six marked a decisive time for selecting a sports’ discipline. "Ok, Yvett, what sport would you like to pick? It is time to channel all that superfluous energy into something sensible," said my dad.

"Daddy?!"

But not a week had passed and I was enrolled in a local swim academy.

"Do you know what the breast stroke looks like?" asked my couch.

"No, I don’t."

"Ok, can you show me the front crawl instead?"

"All right, I’ll give it a go."

"That was actually the breast stroke, Yvett."

"Oh, coach, really?"

As time went by, the training became more and more frequent, - twice a week at first, then three times, five times, twice a day…

     from Yvetta’s autobiographical book "Rebelka" (Rebellious)

Yvetta is the author of an

autobiographical book "Rebelka" (Rebellious)

published in the Czech Republic in 2009

In 2009 Yvetta published her first book, in which she writes not only about her career as a professional athlete but also about her outlook on life.

Yvetta says:   "The obstacles we face are not supposed to humiliate us but they are supposed to challenge us and stretch our limits. They give us helpful experience by showing us the right direction and helping us to find our true selves. If we choose to avoid obstacles and problems, we are robbing ourselves of invaluable experience and of knowledge, on which every success is based. Any experience, good or bad, can be helpful and bring us closer to a state of satisfaction. And isn’t that what it’s all about?"

Yvetta ended her swimming career in 2008 at the age of 33.

She now lives with her partner Thomas and two sons Tom and Matt in Spain near Barcelona. The parents educate the boys at home by the method of unschooling and swimming is not on their curriculum.

"We live in a house with a garden where two healthy children run around sharing the space with a multitude of cats and there is always a dog as well. I love the views of the peaceful forest, out garden in perpetual bloom and the warm sun.

We divide our time between Spain and Switzerland to maintain a balance of the mind and matter and to be always aware of the varied gifts the earth bestows upon us.  We also appreciate our roots and frequently return to the Czech Republic.

No country is perfect but you can decide where you'll live and also who you’ll live with. The choice is yours. Changing your attitudes allows you to change your perceptions and your life as well."

(from Yvetta’s upcoming audiobook)

RECORDS Yvetty Hlaváčové

Yvetta holds the all-time female record for the fastest English Channel crossing at 7 hours, 25 minutes and 15 seconds.
As of November 2019, this remains the 10th fastest overall speed.

Yvetta completed 25 FINA World Championships marathon events with 8 podium finishes:

  • Winner of World Cup Alexandria, Egypt (2002), 10 km
  • Tapes, Brazil (1997), 26 km, 2nd place
  • World Cup Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2004), 10 km, 2nd place
  • World Cup Ohrid, Macedonia (2004), 30 km, 3rd place
  • World Cup Ohrid, Macedonia (2005), 30 km, 3rd place
  • World Cup Santa Fe Coronado, Argentina (2005), 57 km, 3rd place
  • Capri Napoli, Italy (2005), 36 km, 3rd place
  • Bohinj, Slovenia (2001), 10 km, 3rd place

Other successful solo marathon races:

European Cup, United Kingdom (2002), 10 km, 2nd place

European Cup, Switzerland (1994), 13 km, 3rd place

European Championship, Austria (1995), 25 km, 3rd place

Faros Marathon, Croatia (2002, 2003, 2007), 16 km, 2nd place, 3rd place and 3rd place

Slapy Lake, Czech Republic (1993), 25 km, 7th place (Yvetta’s first open water marathon race at age 18)

Other epic swim events:

  • Vltava Tour downstream, Prague, Czech Republic (2007) – long-distance open river swim self-organised as fundraising event for Kojenecký Ústav orphanage in Brno, 138,7 km completed in 7 phases on 7 consecutive days
  • Vltava Tour upstream, Prague, Czech Republic (2008) – long-distance open river swim against the current self-organised as a fundraising event for Asante Kenya children’s charity, 142,4 km completed in 7 phases on 7 consecutive days

World Record holder for the fastest swim across the English Channel (2006)


Triple champion in swimming across the English Channel achieving the absolute best average time calculated from the three attempts (2005, 2006, 2007)


Record holder for the longest upstream open river swim (142.2 km)


Medallist and contestant in the world's toughest and longest open river swim on the Paraná River in South America (88 km)


Holder of three records from European Masters


European Swimming Championship double medallist


World Swimming Championship double medallist


Swimmer of the Year (1995)


The first Czech swimmer in history to swim 200m freestyle under two minutes


Five-time Champion of South America


Champion of Great Britain


Champion of Croatia


Champion of Egypt


During her swimming career she broke 60 Czech records


Holds 82 titles of Champion of the Czech Republic in swimming pool racing


Holds 20 titles of Champion of the Czech Republic in marathon swimming


World Cup winner in 100m individual medley, 100m butterfly and 10 km marathon race


Yvetta broke Czech records in the following disciplines:
50 m, 100 m, 200 m (butterfly)
50 m, 100 m, 200 m (freestyle)
100 m (individual medley)
10 km, 15 km, 20 km, 25 km (marathon swimming)

"REBELKA" AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Each of us has goals in life and challenges to conquer; our own private English Channel or Mount Everest. But the paths we take to reach our goals are never easy and straight, and never without sacrifices.  

Yvetta’s autobiographical book Rebelka (Rebellious) describes one such life journey towards success and recognition while beating a number of Czech and world swimming records, including a record attempt at the English Channel. It is also a story, which will give you goosebumps when you start reading it, because all that you read truly happened down to the smallest detail. ... Where did Yvetta get her strength to push boundaries up to and beyond the limits of human possibilities?

Read Yvetta’s book and discover how even you can achieve what seems impossible!

 The book includes a range of full
colour photographs from Yvetta’s
life and professional career.

This book will motivate you to conquer your challenges!

"I stood and watched Michael. He appeared extremely agitated and as soon as he saw that I was paying attention to him, he started: 'This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to break the world record! Once in a lifetime!'

The world had stopped. I understood he was right. He meant it.

When he fell quiet, I nodded to show that I understood him and I dived silently into the sea again…

You cannot imagine what I had felt. My feelings were swayed between thoughts of dying and an incredible desire to fight. I felt so sick that I could not remember ever feeling worse. I sobbed into the water and cried in desperation.

How was I supposed to succeed? I could not eat nor drink. I was vomiting repeatedly over the last three hours, I was losing blood, had severe pain in my stomach and gut and I was trembling all over. And this is how I was supposed to swim a world record? How was I to do that? [...]

Suddenly it hit me. A thought crossed my mind. I remembered the word that Ruda said to me. How could I forget it?

With every stroke I started repeating it in my head. ... I picked up speed and accelerated the pace like a machine. It felt as if someone else, not me, was doing the swimming. [...]

The timer stopped.

A new world record, 7 hours 25 minutes and 16 seconds..."

Your boundaries are exactly where you had accepted them.

Yvetta Hlaváčová Tulip

Yvetta’s autobiographical book follows her life story from her first splashes in the public pool of her native Blansko and her first successes and failures to the birth of a world champion.  And that’s not where the story ends. On the contrary, - that’s where it all begins all over again…

The heroine of this book is not an action superhero. She is a real woman of flesh and blood and she tells her story truthfully right down to the last detail.

Where did this woman get the strength to keep breaking the limits of human possibilities?

What kept her going when it seemed out of question to continue?

What helped her feel like a champion even when she did not reach the podium or when her limits were tested by fate? How did she feel when she encountered envy and narrowmindedness?

Rebelka (Rebellious) is such a powerful story that you will not be able to put the book down. It will make you think about your own life goals. It will inspire you to make the first steps towards achieving them and urge you to stay on track. The book will entertain you and make you laugh. You will want to cheer Yvetta on as she competes and you will cry and rejoice with her as she wins over her opponents or ‘just’ over her own self.

The book is not only a chronicle of Yvetta's swimming and competition career, but also a compelling story full of wisdom and insights that a life of such a rebellious sportswoman brings. As the author says: "At times I felt like I was not on the path to victory but on the way to some kind of enlightenment. Swimming was just a pretext to grow up, - a path to understanding and self-discovery. And, I think, that is the ultimate challenge."

Flick through the pages:

Click on the image or on this link to view an excerpt in PDF format

"I did not care to win but I wanted swimming to bring me joy and contentment. I wanted to enjoy it.”

Yvetta Hlaváčová Tulip

Yvetta Tulip on herself:

"From a young age, I had a desire to be world-class; to have a goal in life with a world dimension. I was not satisfied with excelling only at national level. Why should I be? Just embarking on the journey towards my world-class ambitions was making me happy.

It was not about proving myself to the world, nor was it about rivalry and competition. It was a desire, determination and a thirst for knowledge. Regardless of whether the journey was difficult, painful and full of obstacles, I wanted to understand my true nature and go after my dream... It was about setting a goal to shape and move me forward... Challenges and near-impossible tasks were making me happy and gave me purpose in life."

THE ENGLISH CHANNEL

Still as a single woman, in her maiden name, Yvetta Hlaváčová made three attempts at swimming the English Channel. On her first attempt, in 2005, she set the overall Czech national record.

A year later, in 2006, during her attempt to cross the Channel twice, she set a new world record with the fastest time, 7: 25:15, after the first leg in France. This was also an improvement on her last year’s absolute Czech record. On her second leg, on the 80th kilometre, after she had been swimming for fourteen hours and only ten kilometres remained to the English shore, she ended her attempt. (At this point, her time was still attacking a record time for a double swim across the Channel).

Suffice to say that she was very unwell for twelve out of the fourteen hours of swimming. Later it became clear that she had also suffered fatigue fractures of the ribs.

In 2007, she made her third attempt to conquer the Channel. She swam the third fastest time in history and became the only female swimmer in the world to swim the Channel twice in under 8 hours. 

As the holder of national records in the shortest as well as the longest swimming disciplines (50 m and 25 km), Yvetta is a multitalented swimmer.  She also succeeded in winning a world cup in both, indoor pool (in sprint discipline), and in open water marathon swimming. No other female swimmer has ever managed that.

 

It is noteworthy that Yvetta founded the first Czech private swimming club and she achieved her world results under the banner of this club. Her autobiographical book is unique and unparalleled in the world of sport.

GALLERY

Contact

Yvetta Hlaváčová Tulip