Oceans Seven

Marathon swimming challenge

Not to be confused with any of several movies in the Ocean's film series.

North Channel

Cook Strait

Molokaʻi Channel

English Channel

Catalina Channel

Tsugaru Strait

Strait of Gibraltar

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Oceans seven

The Oceans Seven is a marathon swimming challenge consisting of seven open water channel swims. It was devised in 2008 as the swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge. It comprises the North Channel, the Cook Strait, the Molokaʻi Channel, the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, the Tsugaru Strait and the Strait of Gibraltar.[1]

The record for the fastest cumulative time for the completion of the 7 swims is held by Scot Andrew Donaldson, with a total swim time of 63 hours, 2 minutes.[2]

The record for the fastest completion of all seven swims is held by Bulgarian Petar Stoychev who achieved it in 173 days, completing on 14 August 2024.[3]

The record for the youngest ever person to complete all 7 swims is held by New Zealander Caitlin O'Reilly who was 20 years, 7 months, and 15 days old upon completion.

## List of Oceans Seven swims

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* The North Channel: between Ireland and Scotland, 34.5 kilometres (18.6 nmi)
* The Cook Strait: between New Zealand’s North and South Islands, 22.5 kilometres (12.1 nmi)
* The Molokaʻi Channel (also known as the Kaiwi Channel): between Moloka’i and O’ahu, 42 kilometres (23 nmi)
* The English Channel: between England and France, 33 kilometres (18 nmi)
* The Catalina Channel: between Santa Catalina Island and Los Angeles, 32.3 kilometres (17.4 nmi)
* The Tsugaru Strait: between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, 19.5 kilometres (10.5 nmi)
* The Strait of Gibraltar: between Spain and Morocco, 14.4 kilometres (7.8 nmi)

## List of successful completions

[edit]

The LongSwims Database maintains a list of swimmers who have completed the challenge:[4]

| Name  | Date completed  | Nation  | Notes

|
|
|
|

1  | Stephen Redmond  | 14 July 2012 | Ireland  | First ever to complete all seven swims. Total time 2 years 344 days; cumulative time 104 hours 19 minutes.[5][6]
2  | Anna-Carin Nordin  | 8 July 2013 | Sweden  | First woman to complete all seven swims. Total time 2 years 290 days; cumulative time 182 hours 39 mins.[7]
3  | Michelle Macy  | 15 July 2013 | United States  |
4  | Darren Miller  | 29 August 2013 | United States  |
5  | Adam Walker  | 6 August 2014 | United Kingdom  | [8]
6  | Kimberley Chambers | 2 September 2014 | New Zealand  |
7  | Antonio Argüelles  | 3 August 2017 | Mexico  | [9]
8  | Ion Lazarenco-Tiron  | 27 January 2018 | Republic of Moldova  | First from a landlocked country
9  | Rohan Dattatrey More  | 9 February 2018 | India  | First Asian[10]
10  | Abhejali Bernardová  | 24 February 2018 | Czech Republic  | [11]
11  | Cameron Bellamy  | 21 June 2018 | South Africa  | First South African[12]
12  | Lynton Mortensen  | 14 November 2018 | Australia  | First Australian[13]
13  | Thomas “Fleppy” Pembroke  | 14 December 2018 | Australia  |
14  | Nora Toledano Cadena  | 30 March 2019 | Mexico  |
15  | Mariel Hawley Dávila  | 30 March 2019 | Mexico  |
16  | André Wiersig  | 9 June 2019 | Germany  |
17  | Elizabeth Fry  | 25 August 2019 | United States  |
18  | Attila Mányoki  | 26 August 2019 | Hungary  | Fastest cumulative time (64 hours 35 minutes) until Donaldson, 2023[14][15]
19  | Jonathan Ratcliffe  | 10 December 2019 | United Kingdom  | [16]
20  | Jorge Crivillés  | 1 January 2020 | Spain  | First Spaniard
21  | Adrian Sarchet  | 29 February 2020 | Guernsey  | [17]
22  | Prabhat Koli  | 1 March 2023 | India
23  | Dina Levačić  | 14 March 2023 | Croatia  | First Croat, youngest (27 years)
24  | Herman van der Westhuizen  | 16 July 2023 | South Africa
25  | Andrew Donaldson | 27 July 2023 | United Kingdom  | Fastest total time (355 days) until Stoychev, 2024;[18] Fastest cumulative time (63 hours 2 minutes).[14][15] Note: the previous record for total time was 2 years 60 days.[15]
26  | Stephen Junk  | 10 September 2023 | Australia  |
27  | Kieron Palframan  | 6 October 2023 | South Africa  |
28  | Bárbara Hernández | 14 June 2024 | Chile  | First South American.[19]
29  | Mark Sowerby  | 29 June 2024 | Australia  | [20]
30  | Zach Margolis  | 13 July 2024 | United States  | First openly LGBTQ+ [21][22]
31  | Paul Georgescu  | 27 July 2024 | România  | First Romanian[23]
32  | Petar Stoychev | 14 August 2024 | Bulgaria  | First Bulgarian.[24] Fastest total time (173 days from 14 March to 2 September 2024: Stoychev repeated his English Channel swim after completing Oceans Seven to reduce total time)[18]
33  | Nathalie Pohl | 15 September 2024 | Germany  | First German woman.[25]
34  | Caitlin O'Reilly  | 24 October 2024 | New Zealand  | Youngest ever swimmer to complete the Oceans Seven at 20 years, 7 months, and 15 days.
35  | Ryan Utsumi  | 18 April 2025  | United States  | [26]
36  | Bengisu Avcı | 4 August 2025  | Türkiye  | First Turkish swimmer. Cumulative time (73 hours 16 minutes)[27]

## See also

[edit]

* Long-distance swimming
* Open water swimming
* Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Tim Moss (7 September 2014). "What are the Oceans Seven?". TheNextChallenge.Org. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
2. ^ Ryan, Suzie (2023-08-15). "Andy Donaldson Conquers The Oceans Seven And Breaks World Record". oceanswims.com. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
3. ^ "Marathon Swimmer Petar Stoychev Completes All Oceans Seven Open Water Straits within 173 Days, Breaks World Record". 5 September 2024.
4. ^ "Oceans Seven Swimmers". Oceans Seven. Marathon Swimmers Federation. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
5. ^ O'Connell, Hugh (15 July 2012). "Irish swimmer completes gruelling open water challenge". The Journal. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
6. ^ "Stephen Redmond". World Open Water Swimming Association Database. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
7. ^ "Anna-Carin Nordin". World Open Water Swimming Association Database. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
8. ^ "Open-ocean swimmer Adam Walker: 'Hardest swim of my life'". BBC News. BBC. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
9. ^ Adam Skolnik (5 August 2017). "In a Swimmer's Two-Year Quest, a Final 21-Mile Challenge". New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
10. ^ "Pune swimmer world's youngest to complete Ocean 7 Challenge". Inshorts - Stay Informed. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
11. ^ "European completes Ocean's Seven with Cook Strait swim". 26 February 2018.
12. ^ "Cameron Bellamy Does Oceans Seven, South African 1st". dailynews.openwaterswimming.com. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
13. ^ Munatones, Steven (14 November 2018). "Indomitable: Sea Bull Completes The Oceans Seven". Retrieved 7 December 2018.
14. ^ a b McPhee, Rebecca (29 July 2023). "Andy Donaldson Completes Oceans Seven in Record Time". Retrieved 4 August 2023.
15. ^ a b c "Scots swimmer breaks record for Oceans Seven challenge". BBC News. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
16. ^ Unknown (11 Dec 2019). "Oundle dad becomes 19th person in history to complete gruelling global swim challenge". Peterborough Telegraph. Retrieved 11 Dec 2019.
17. ^ "'Sea Donkey' Adrian Sarchet completes Oceans Seven challenge". ITV News. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
18. ^ a b Rusev, Momchil. "Marathon Swimmer Petar Stoychev Completes All Oceans Seven Open Water Straits within 173 Days, Breaks World Record". www.bta.bg. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
19. ^ "Bárbara Hernández Huerta's Journey to the Oceans Seven". 14 June 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
20. ^ "A Decade of Dreams Realized: Mark Sowerby Completes the Oceans Seven". 3 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
21. ^ "Zach Margolis: 30th Person to Complete the Oceans Seven – An Interview and His Journey Through All Seven Swims". 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
22. ^ "Oceans Seven". zachmargolis.com. 2025-07-13. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
23. ^ "Paul Georgescu becomes first Romanian to complete Oceans Seven swimming challenge". Romania Insider. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
24. ^ Marinova, Tatiana. "Swimmer Petar Stoychev Becomes First Bulgarian to Swim All Oceans Seven Open Water Straits". www.bta.bg. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
25. ^ "Extremschwimmerin Pohl durchquert als erste deutsche Frau die »Ocean's Seven«". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 17 September 2024.
26. ^ "Double Success Across the Strait of Gibraltar: Ryan Utsumi Achieves the Oceans Seven with Sayani Das (One To Go) – Daily News of Open Water Swimming". dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
27. ^ "Bengisu Avcı tarihe geçti". TRT Spor (in Turkish). 4 August 2025. Retrieved 4 August 2025.

* Sataline, Suzanne (2010); "Extreme Swimmers Accept the Challenge of 'Oceans Seven'"; Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 16, 2010.

## External links

[edit]

* "Oceans Seven Swimmers". World Open Water Swimming Association.