Atina Bojadzi (Macedonian: Атина Бојаџи) (13 March 1944 – 28 December 2010) was a Macedonian marathon swimmer who became one of Macedonia's most popular athletes after successfully crossing the English Channel in 1969. Atina's parents were of Albanian descent.
Nicknamed the "Ohrid Dolphin" after her lakeside hometown, Bojadzi won several national and international long-distance swimming races. She became the first woman from former Yugoslavia to swim across the English Channel in 1969. The achievement inspired a 1975 movie about her life and earned her sporting honors in her native Macedonia after it declared independence in 1991.[1]
Atina Bojadzi died in her home country of Macedonia on 28 December 2010, aged 66.