Iskander Sagarminaga Ateaga (43, Spain, MSF bio here) walked off the shore at Sandy Beach on Oahu with a heading to Pāpōhaku Beach on Molokai Tuesday morning at 2:11 am in the dark under a starry, starry night.
It was a battle, but the Triple Crowner from Spain never gave up.
Immediately after leaving Oahu, he hit a wicked head current that throttled him about for hours. For 3 hours, he only progressed 1.8 km off Sandy beach.
But he forged ahead, relentlessly. His mindset never flinched from his goal – despite hitting another head current as he approached Molokai. With patience and grit, however, he ultimately reach South Pāpōhaku Beach on Molokai Island to complete his Molokai Channel crossing at 9:04 pm. He started in the dark and ended in the dark.
His escort pilot Michael Twigg-Smith and support crew led by personable illustrator Eider Eibar were thoroughly exhausted, but happy to report, “What a battle…18 hours 53 minutes to become the first Spaniard to swim from Oahu to Molokai.”
Oahu-to-Molokai Crossings
- Harry Huffaker, 32 at time of crossing, USA in 1972 in 16 hours 15 minutes
- Forrest Nelson, 40 at time of crossing, USA in 2006 in 16 hours 36 minutes
- Graco Morlan, 49 at time of crossing, Mexico in 2024 in 15 hours 33 minutes.
- Paul Leonard, 52, Great Britain in 2025 in 13 hours 50 minutes
- Bogusław Ogrodnik, 60, Poland in 2025 in 21 hours 59 minutes
- Edie Hu, 50, USA in 2025 in 16 hours 9 minutes
- Loren King, 57, Canada in 2026 in 13 hours 18 minutes
- Iskander Sagarminaga Ateaga, 43, Spain in 18 hours 53 minutes
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