‘I won’t be doing that again’
As she bounded out of the water after swimming the Foveaux Strait, Hannah Morgan declared she would never be doing that again.
The Otago University student completed her goal of swimming the Strait in 8 hours and 43 minutes yesterday for mental health awareness.
She left Stewart Island about 6.20am and the moment she made it to shore, she just felt euphoria, she said.
‘‘I’ve been looking at this point and it hasn’t got any closer for the last three hours, so it’s so nice to be here and have the earth under my feet.
‘‘My arms are a bit dead . . . I didn’t use my legs at all.’’
While she said she was unlikely to do it again, it was a good experience.
‘‘I’m just absolutely rapt I made it across . . . it was probably the most challenging thing I’ll ever have to do but I’m so glad I made it through,’’ Morgan said.
‘‘It was hurting the entire way.’’ Morgan is the ninth person to swim the Foveaux Strait crossing, and holds the third best time behind Chloe Harris’s swim of 8 hours, 30 minutes in 2016, and Todd Utteridge’s 8 hours and 40 minutes in 1989.
She became motivated to complete the Foveaux crossing to raise awareness when a close friend died after suffering from mental health issues.
She began the campaign Swim Strait for Life to raise awareness for mental health.
The swim has raised money for the Mental Health Foundation and the Otago Students Association.
The campaign has currently raised more than $21,000 from the Givealittle page.
Previous Foveaux Strait swims:
John van Leeuwen: February 7, 1963 – 13hr 36min
Meda McKenzie: March 20, 1979 – 14hr Belinda Shields: March 24, 1984 – 9hr 53min
Michael Quinlivan: February 13, 1985 – 9hr 41min
Sandra Blewett: February 11, 1988 – 12hr 5min
Todd Utteridge: February 15, 1989 – 8hr 40min
Wayne Evans: February 9, 2013 – 9hr 20min
Chloe Harris: February 1, 2016 – 8hr 30min