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Sybil Hedrick Park (Fisher at the time of swim) is a solo long-distance swimmer and Occupational Therapist, from Portland, Oregon. She is notable as the first Oregonian to complete the swim across the English Channel on the 8th of August in 2003. She was diagnosed with asthma in 1994 and swam the Ditch to promote asthma awareness. She successfully completed the journey in 13 hours and 52 minutes.

Early Life
Sybil was born in Portland, Oregon on January 10th 1973. She graduated from the Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Washington. She was a collegiate swimmer, while receiving an undergraduate degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Puget Sound in 1995.

Before swimming the English Channel, Sybil became a Certified Hand Therapist in 2001. She began her career in Occupational Therapy working in a Nursing and Home Health unit. Then, she continued to hone her skills in Ogden, Utah, at the McKay Dee Hospital.

English Channel Swim
Sybil Hedrick Park (Fisher at the time of swim) swam across the English Channel from England to France in August 2003 after being coached by Andrew Soracco for 18 months.

To prepare for the crossing, Sybil swam in the Columbia River and in Lake Merwin since the bodies of water have a similar temperature as the English Channel, which is about 55 to 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Regularly, she motivated herself to wake up at 5 am to swim for 8 to 10 hours.

While training for the swim, she spoke at events for the American Lung Association of Oregon and for the Oregon State Asthma Program to raise funds for the trip to England and the crossing itself.

Sybil arrived in England on July 28th to trained in Dover Harbor for a few days before the crossing. She left Shakespeare Beach, England, at 7:42 am wearing just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. The English Channel rules require that nothing be worn to insulate the swimmers from the frigid water. Mike Oram, a captain from the Channel Swimming and Pilot Federation was her pilot. She was accompanied by her then husband Greg and another friend.

The feeding schedule was planned out before the crossing. She a drank a mixture of a energy drink, with hot tea, and a liquid protein every half an hour for nine hours. After nine hours, she feed every 30 minutes to keep her energy up. During a crossing swimmers are not allowed to be touched, so she was fed from a metal basket on a pole.

After seven and a half hours in the Ditch she described her shoulders as, "falling apart from tendonitis". Finally, she "saw the glitter of lights from the French shore". The lights were beaming from two French Restaurants where people came out to congratulate her.

Sybil gave up long-distance swimming after college, however, she keeps swimming.

Occupational Therapy Career
Sybil’s contributions to the field of Occupational Therapy (OT) rivals her crossing the English Channel. While working at Providence Hospital for about 25 years, she gave lectures and was a member of the Occupational Therapy Association of Oregon (OTAO), and served on the Occupational Therapy Licensing Board (OTBL).

Sybil has lectured about Upper Extremity conditions at the Pacific University for about 15 years.

Sybil was the President of the Occupational Therapy Association of Oregon (OTAO) from 2006 to 2010, advocating for both Occupational Therapy and Hand Therapy. OTAO presented her the Grace Black award in 2012 for her distinguished contributions. OTAO created an award called, "The Sybil Hedrick Park Award" in her name to honor her service.

Sybil was on the Board of Directors for the Occupational Therapy Licensing Board of Oregon between October 2013 and October 2021. During her time on the Board of Directors, she managed the Occupational Therapy field by assuring safety standards and ethics were met through licensing and other forms of regulation. Sybil was described as being "very influential in all decision-making"by a peer.

Sybil retired from her position as the Providence Regional Manager Liaison for Hand and Upper Extremity Rehab in 2023.

Personal Life
Sybil is married and has one son. She often enjoys attending sporting events to watch her son. Also, she likes to spends quality time with her husband. The family lives in a floating home in the Multnomah Channel. Sybil can be found swimming around their home.