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About Dr Julie 'Madfish' Bradshaw MBE
Dr. Julie ‘Madfish’ Bradshaw MBE is a
well-known world reknowned marathon and long distance swimmer with over 35 years involvement in
the sport. She first started breaking records aged 14, when she swam the length
of England’s largest lake, Windermere (10.5 miles) in 1978. A year later she
conquered the English Channel, establishing a British Junior Record of 10 hours
9 minutes and from then, there has been no looking back. Her longest swim has
been nearly a day when she swam 42 miles in 23 hours and 17 minutes on a 4 Way
Windermere and she had even swam Loch Lomond in 1980 in what can only be
described as ‘cold’ temperatures. Waters were between 38 and 42 degrees
fahrenheit and Julie was in there for 12 hours and 44 minutes.
Dr. Bradshaw’s swims were done on
frontcrawl up till then; it was in 1991 that she began her ‘Openwater long
distance butterfly swimming’ and established a new world first and record on
Windermere with a length of ‘fly’ By the turn of the century, Julie had gained
more butterfly records so the next challenge was the English Channel. In 2002
she smashed the existing ‘fly’ record by over nine hours making a new world
record of 14 hours and 18 minutes, which still stands today.
All the records are listed and can be viewed by visiting Get Set 4 Success where you will also see that Julie holds a number of relay swim records which
began in 2001. These even include a Triple Channel and Triple Loch Ness!
In 2005 Julie attempted the butterfly
around Manhattan but due to a freak lightning storm, all the swimmers were
pulled out of the water and not allowed to go back in. That year no one
finished. Therefore, it was always Julie’s intention to return and ‘conquer’
and to achieve another dream which she did on 16th July 2011.
Dr. Julie Bradshaw MBE has raised thousands
over the years for charity through her record swims and in 2006 she was awarded
the MBE for her ‘Services to Swimming and Charity’ which Julie collected from
Buckingham Palace. That year Loughborough University also conferred upon her an
Honorary Degree for the same. In 2007,
she was inducted into the IMSHOF (International Marathon Swimming Hal of Fame)
in recognition of her amazing swimming feats over the years. Other sporting
honours for Julie include her nomination in 2004 for the Sunday Times Women’s
Sports Inspirational Award.
When
not swimming and breaking records, Julie runs her own successful business, Get
Set 4 Success, where she Inspires, Motivates and Enables people to ‘Expand
their potential’ in Business, Sport and Swimming (Channel and Open water Swim
Training) and Therapy. Julie is a Motivational Speaker, Trainer, Business and
Swimming Coach (Channel and Openwater).
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