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Carmel student swims Foveaux Strait to claim ‘triple crown’

Flagstaff Team

In the swim… Carmel College swimmer Caitlin O’Reilly swam Foveaux Strait last month, making her the youngest person to conquer the big three New Zealand open-water swims.

Carmel College swimmer Caitlin O’Reilly conquered Foveaux Strait last month, making her the youngest person to achieve the New Zealand ‘triple crown’ of open-water swims.

She had previously swum Cook Strait and across Lake Taupo.

Foveaux Strait, between Stewart Island and Bluff, was no easy feat for the 16-year-old, who spent 10 hours and 21 minutes covering 31km in 15-degree water – without a wetsuit.

“The hardest part was the last 10km,” Caitlin said. “I looked up to see Bluff and I wasn’t getting any closer. The sun was going down. I started panicking.”

She began the 17 February swim at 10.40am from Saddle Point on Stewart Island and reached the mainland by 9pm.

Caitlin is the ninth person to swim Foveaux without a wetsuit and the sixth person to achieve the triple crown without a wetsuit.

“During the first hour of the swim I was okay, but then negative thoughts started going through my head. I was cold. I was thinking about sharks and really out of focus,” said Caitlin.

She said it was her most challenging swim yet. “The water was flat, but the swim was mentally draining,” she said.

She won’t be swimming Foveaux again. “I think it’s hard to be in the right mindset and I could have swum it faster. But I think being the youngest person to complete the triple crown is really cool,” said Caitlin.

Her training included swimming 40km each week in the pool, with a few open water swims leading up to the Foveaux attempt.

Caitlyn swam Cook Strait in 2017, as 12-year-old, in 7 hours and 19 minutes. She was the youngest female to make the 30km swim. In 2019, she swam 40km across Lake Taupo in 13 hours and 26 minutes.

Now she is preparing to attempt the Oceans Seven marathon swimming challenge of seven open-water swims around the world.

It includes the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Portpatrick in Scotland, Molokai Channel in Hawaii, the English Channel between France and England, the Catalina Channel in California, the Tsugaru Strait in Northern Japan, the Strait of Gibraltar – and Cook Strait.

She won’t be travelling soon due to Covid-19 restrictions but hopes there will be a chance for her to complete at least one of the swims this year.


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