With Andreas Waschburger (38, Germany, MSF bio here, IISA bio here, @andreaswaschburger) waiting in the wings and Alexandra Rossi Cima (50, Brazil, MSF bio here) coming up later this month, soloists Robert Woodhouse (Australia, 59, MSF bio here) and Gráinne Moss (55, Ireland, MSF bio here) were lining up in Kodomari to make their attempt on the 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan this week.

But there was also a quad team including Dr. Steve Minaglia (52, USA, MSF bio here), Marek Lehocky of Honolulu, and Dai Matsui who were making the same challenge on the same day as Woodhouse and Moss.

Dr. Minaglia reported on the relay, “For those of you that have been to Tsugaru, you know that you can feel like you are in the movie “Lost in Translation” if you do not speak Japanese. You meet a lot of people and attend many meetings, but never quite land with a solid understanding as to what is about to happen.

Last year I consulted for the local Japanese government that was aiming to establish a new channel swimming association for Tsugaru. I was asked a simple question, “If I were to design it how would I do it?” After submitting my materials, some time went by. Then much to my surprise, I was invited to participate in a promotional relay swim of the channel.

I am not much for relays and have only participated in one back in 2011. I ended up swimming several legs with other swimmers because I could not tolerate being on the boat. My first solo channel crossing ever was the very next day. So this invite led to some trepidation, although I have not been seasick on a boat for many years. This in part I owe to Amy Gubser and Kent Nicholas who years ago politely told me to stop eating so much during swims.

This trip was absolutely perfect, although many of you reading this already know that our team did not finish. The town hosted an all day festival to promote and support the swimming community and swims across Tsugaru. We were greeted by so many people including the mayor. We had great accommodations and food throughout the trip. I had the pleasure of swimming every day in Kodomari as well as in Tokyo and got to know my teammates very well.

The winds were high, but the water was completely swimmable. The water was warm enough for pretty much any channel swimmer for over half of the swim. As many have posted the water got down to 15°C as you approached Hokkaido. I would say there were patches of water even colder than that. The currents are super strong in Tsugaru. If you look at all the successful crossings, you will see departures from Kodomari with a strong initial westward heading.

Prior to entering the channel the swimmer can leverage the W/SW currents to accomplish this direction. Then what needs to happen at some point is a careful calculation of the existing currents as well as the swimmerʻs estimated speed based on prior swims, the swimmerʻs current ability, and the projected degradation of this ability over time as the hours go on and the water temperature drops.

I assure you most pilots all over the world do not think along these precise terms. What we do for the Maui Nui Swim now is we send each swimmer a timing matrix for them to fill out that includes best/average/worst times for distances from 100 meters all the way up to 10 km, including their longest swims and when they did them. Pool format and open water venues are also considered. This generates a more precise way to combine swimmers that have never swam together into a group event. It took years of analyses and coordination of nearly 200 channel swims in Hawaiʻi to get to this refined point. I now regularly use these data to plan swims across the Molokaʻi Channel.

Back to Tsugaru.

At the swim briefing, we mainly talked about winds, but the Tsugaru Current did come up. As you can see from our graph, our team swam nearly 65 km and was on its way to Hakodate when we encountered strong head currents for hours. By 430 pm, it was declared by the captain of our team that it was impossible to complete the swim before sundown. We therefore ended the swim and began a 4-hour journey back to Kodomari.

For my own notes that I shared at our team debriefing, I wish I had shared more of my knowledge with the captain and crew at the swim briefing. My mission at that moment however was very straightforward: put my head down and swim. Donʻt tell the local captain how to do this and am incredibly grateful that I was invited to be part of such an important development aimed at improving the local economy and hence the lives of the people in Kodomari and Aomori Prefecture. This was a learning experience for everyone. With careful observation and repetition, I am confident the local captains that are brand new to escorting swimmers will develop over time and our community will see more successes and fulfillment.

On behalf of the Hawaiian Channel Swimming Association, mahalo nui loa (thank you very much) to the local organizing body and our sponsor SWANS and a hui hou (until we meet again).”

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