Jen Alexander was diagnosed 22 years ago when she was 13 years old – back when blood tests took 3-5 minutes. Her first open water swim was at diabetes camp, and after a fish gave her a funny look while she was swimming and she vowed she’d never do it again.

Recently, after swimming for 19 hours and 17 minutes, Jen became the first person to swim a double-crossing of Canada’s Northumberland Strait (from New Brunswick to PEI, then back to New Brunswick). During the best 10 hours of this world-record swim, her blood sugar averaged 6.2 mmol/L without any lows.

In 2007, Jen was awarded the Canadian Diabetes Association’s Inspiration Award. In 2008, Jen was honored with the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association’s “Athlete of the Year” award.