Bárbara Hernández Huerta, completed an 11 hour 40 minute crossing of the 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel in northern Japan to become the 28th person in history to achieve the Oceans Seven – and the first person from South America and her native Chile.
One of the most popular ocean swimmers in the world, the 37-year-old Chilean from Santiago decided to take the Kodomari Route instead of the Tappi Misaki Route. The chosen course meant that she started on the Kodomari Benten Cape and planned to use the Tsugaru Current to push her towards her finish on Hokkaido. The Kodomari Route is longer, but it is considered to be more conservative with less risk. The conditions were relatively smooth and the winds relatively light, so everything looked good at the start and spirits were high.
However, as Hernández entered the deepest part of the channel – at around 200 meters in depth, the Tsugaru Current started to push her parallel to her goal.
But, true to her indomitable spirit, she keep on swimming and swimming. Hours went by, with her goal off her left side. But, bit by bit, she was able to fight the easterly current that steadily flows from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean. As she entered shallower waters, she was finally able to turn directly towards her goal and finish in 11 hours 40 minutes – a goal that she had been aiming for 8 years.
Hernández’s Ocean Seven Channels
- Strait of Gibraltar: In August 2018, she completed a 14.4 km crossing from Spain to Morocco in 3 hours 5 minutes
- Catalina Channel: In June 2019, she completed a 32.3 km crossing from Santa Catalina Island to the mainland on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California in 10 hours 11 minutes
- English Channel: In August 2019, she completed a 33.5 km crossing from England to France in 12 hours 13 minutes
- Molokai Channel: In May 2021, she completed a 45 km crossing from Molokai Island to Oahu in 15 hours 41 minutes
- North Channel: In July 2022, she completed a 35 crossing between Northern Ireland and Scotland in 12 hours 19 minutes
- Cook Strait: In March 2023, she completed a 23 km crossing in New Zealand in 8 hours 16 minutes
- Tsugaru Channel: On June 13th, she completed a 19.5 km crossing from Aomori to Hokkaido in northern Japan in 11 hours 40 minutes at the age of 37
Oceans Seven Swimmers in History:
- Stephen Redmond (Ireland)
- Anna Carin Nordin (Sweden)
- Michelle Macy (USA)
- Darren Miller (USA)
- Adam Walker (UK)
- Kimberley Chambers (New Zealand)
- Antonio Argüelles (Mexico)
- Ion Lazarenco Tiron (Moldavia and Ireland)
- Rohan Dattatrey More (India)
- Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic)
- Cameron Bellamy (South Africa)
- Lynton Mortensen (Australia)
- Thomas Pembroke (Australia)
- Nora Toledano Cadena (Mexico)
- Mariel Hawley Dávila (Mexico)
- André Wiersig (Germany)
- Elizabeth Fry (USA)
- Attila Mányoki (Hungary)
- Jonathan Ratcliffe (UK)
- Jorge Crivilles Villanueva (Spain)
- Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey)
- Prabhat Koli (India)
- Dina Levačić (Croatia)
- Herman van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
- Andy Donaldson (Scotland)
- Stephen Junk (Australia)
- Kieron Palframan (South Africa)
- Bárbara Hernández Huerta (Chile)
Hernández’s course across the Tsugaru Channel is posted here.
Her marathon swimming career is summarized here on the Marathon Swimmers Federation LongSwims database and her ice swimming career is summarized here on the International Ice Swimming Association database.
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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