Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

When 58-year-old Dr. Marilyn Korzekwa of Canada became the oldest woman to successfully cross the Cook Strait in New Zealand, her crossing also brought attention to both 55-year-old Pamela Dickson**, 60-year-old Tom Hecker* from California, and 60-year-old Toshio Ogawa (小川敏雄) from Japan.

Ogawa’s journey started in 2004 when he first unsuccessfully attempted the Cook Strait.

He failed on his first try, but he vowed to return one day. Last March, Ogawa did make his return.

His crossing of 11 hours 51 minutes broke Hecker’s oldest swimmer record who had been a few month younger than Ogawa.

* Hecker crossed in 2012 in 10 hours 36 minutes.

** Dickson crossed in 2009 in 9 hours 23 minutes.

Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association