Swimmer completes Cook Strait
It’s been a case of second time luck for a marathon swimmer who conquered the Cook Strait on Thursday.
Paul Feltoe, an engineer from New Plymouth, tried and failed to swim to the South Island in 2016.
It was a blow but he knew he had to try again.
‘‘I had demons in my head,’’ Feltoe laughed.
‘‘I thought, this is something that’s going to eat at me.’’
So it was a double triumph last Thursday when Feltoe completed the Cook Strait, which he said is the ‘‘pinnacle’’ of New Zealand ocean swims, in nine hours and four minutes.
He said it was rough, the tides weren’t necessarily in his favour and there was a point where he wasn’t moving at all, but he didn’t want to give up.
The Cook Strait swim was part of the Ocean’s Seven series which consists of seven long-distance open-water swims, and is considered the marathon swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge.
Before Cook Strait Feltoe had completed the his first of the Ocean’s Seven - Catalina Channel, the 32.3 kilometres of water between Catalina Island and Southern California.
He also successfully completed this on his second attempt.
The Cook Strait is 26km point to point, but Feltoe thinks he probably travelled about 32 due to the currents.
Feltoe has been swimming since he was a ‘‘little, little guy’’ but only started taking on ocean swims when he turned 40.
His coach, Dylan Dunlop Barrett said although Feltoe’s age affects his speed, his experience trumps it.
‘‘He might not have the speed of the younger guys, but he’s more composed,’’ Dunlop-Barrett said.
‘‘That’s probably the thing that got him over the line.’’
Dunlop-Barrett has been coaching Feltoe for the past six months in preparation for this swim.
Feltoe was feeling a bit sore on Friday but said within a couple of days he’ll probably be thinking more deeply about his next swim.
‘‘You let your body heal a bit and then you’re back at it.’’
The Moloka’i Channel in Hawaii, also one of the Ocean’s Seven, had caught Feltoe’s eye.
He hopes to complete all of the Ocean’ Seven: ‘‘that’s the dream.’’