Eva Buzo

Eva Buzo (born 1986) is an Australian marathon swimmer and human rights barrister. She is the first woman to complete the Strait of Otranto swim, holds the record for earliest English Channel crossing in the season by a woman, and is the first person to complete a swim between Juanchaco and Buenaventura in Colombia. Her human rights work focuses on international criminal law and conflict situations. She was the lawyer of slain Rohingya activist Mohib Ullah. She is the granddaughter of Australian Albanian civil engineer Zihni Buzo (1912-2006) and niece of Australian writer Alex Buzo (1944-2006). Her first recorded marathon swim was a two-day, 77-km Derwent River swim in Tasmania, Australia on 24 and 25 March 2022. She is recognised as the first woman to complete the crossing.

English Channel

Buzo departed Shakespeare Beach, Dover at 23:15 on 5 June 2024, completing the crossing in 10 hours and 49 minutes. The water temperature during the swim was 13 degrees Celsius. Her stated goal was to "pay tribute and give visibility to the resistance of the people of Buenaventura". She is considered the first person to complete the swim.

Human rights work

Buzo is a human rights barrister and executive director of human rights organisation Humanus. Her decision to join the human rights field was inspired by her late grandfather Zihni Buzo's passion for serving others and by watching the breakup of Yugoslavia and the situation with Kosovo. Her work has focused on international criminal law and conflict situations, specifically in Myanmar with the Rohingya people. She represented Rohingya activist Mohib Ullah at the time of his murder. Through Humanus she has also represented civilian victims of United States military operations in Somalia.