Andreas Waschburger (@andreaswaschburger) of Germany walked up the shores of Sandy Beach on Oahu after a 9 hour 55 minute crossing of the Molokai Channel on October 6th.

The 37-year-old German departed from Lā’au Point on the southeast corner of Molokai Island and took a direct line to Oahu through the pounding surf on Sandy Beach in Hawaii, breaking the existing record of 12 hours 2 minutes set by Attila Mányoki in 2015. His support crew was lead by his newly wed wife Jasmin Waschburger, and escorted by Captain Jamie Barlow, First Mate Tate, Steven Munatones, videographers Janis Scheuermann and Rouven Christ,, and land-based crew chief Dr. Steve Minaglia.

How did this record crossing occur?

Let’s take a step back several years ago when Waschburger completed in hundreds of elite pool and professional marathon swims, winning 3 FINA World Cup races and finishing in podium positions 10 times over a prolific career. He finished 8th in the 2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in London, just ahead of Oceans Seven swimmer Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria, 1:50:44.4 to 1:50:46.2.

Last year in September 2023, he set the overall record for the 33.5 km crossing of the English Channel in 6 hours 45 minutes. A fire was lit and he set a personal goal of becoming the fastest person to complete the Oceans Seven.

Travel to Hawaii

After a long flight from Germany to San Francisco and then onwards to Honolulu, Waschburger elected to prepare for his crossing on Molokai Island, taking a small commuter aircraft. These logistics enabled him and his support crew to skip the long, rough boat ride from Oahu to Molokai that precedes most of the Molokai Channel crossings.

Stay on Moloka’i

Waschburger and his support team stayed at Hotel Moloka’i.

The hotel lies right on Kamiloloa Beach on Molokai and is positioned alongside Hawaii’s only barrier reef. It is a Polynesian-style village with tropical bungalows, oceanfront swimming pool, and an onsite restaurant.

Prepping

Waschburger did short ocean swims along Kamiloloa Beach on Molokai’s south shore (with the island of Lana’i in the background, shown below on left) and on a completely deserted and stereotypically Hawaiian Pāpōhaku Beach on Molokai’s western shore when he could easily see Oahu off in the distance – and rinse off on a totally cool shower.

Kamiloloa Beach is located on Molokai‘s south shore, about 2.4 km from downtown Kaunakakai. Offshore is a large barrier reef and the nearshore ocean bottom is shallow and rocky and the water is murky – far from the best place to swim for its water is brown, rather than the typical blue of Hawaiian waters.

He also trained at the free public 25-meter pool near the island’s downtown area where the locals lifeguards and swimmers who fascinated by someone who came from so far to swim in their local pool.

Food, Drinks and Hospitality

While the island of Molokai is completely different than the hustle and bustle of Waikiki on Oahu or the activity of Lahaina on Maui, it definitely has retained the old-school aloha charm of Hawaii. The locals are especially friendly and helpful, although the cost of food and drinks are shockingly high, both in restaurants and local markets.

Plate lunches were popular with the crew, typically served with a scoop of rice and macaroni salad.

Pre-swim Staging

The team staged at Hale O Lono Harbor where they met Captain Jamie Barlow and First Mate Tate. It was an early morning set (3:00 am) based on the planning and logistical details written out by land-based crew chief Dr. Steve Minaglia.

The drive from Hotel Moloka’i to Hale O Lono Harbor was partly on a dirt road which is the road taken by all the hundreds of outrigger canoe toes of the famous Moloka’i Hoe Outrigger Canoe Race from Molokai to Oahu.

https://youtu.be/9vv_Z88En5U

Waschburger had a special request to Captain Jamie. He likes a clock visible to him during his swims so Captain Jamie affixed a digital clock to the starboard (right) side of the boat. It was used extensively throughout the 9 hour 55 minute crossing as Jasmin handed her husband his drinks at the 20-minute mark without fail.

Once boarded, the team head of to Lā’au Point that is on the very southeast tip of west Molokai, the closest point to Oahu. They set the GPS heading to Sandy Point. And then the adventure really began.

The Start

With the nautical twilight starting to lighten the night sky after 6:00 am, it was still very dark when Waschburger entered the water after 4:30 am. By the time, he reached shore for the 4:41 am start, he had swum into shore with Munatones in the pitch darkness, the first time that he had swum at night.

Munatones recalled, “We swam easily to shore together as I had a headlamp on. When Andreas stood up and started, there was a series of waves that came out of nowhere. We could not see anything but I heard the surf breaking in the stillness of the night. Unfortunately, Andreas was standing up and was knocked to his feet and hit his head on the unseen rocks under the water. He yelled in pain and was in panic.

I yelled at him to swim closer to me. He yelled, ‘My nose is broken!’ It was horrific to hear in the darkness with waves breaking all around us. I continued to instruct him to swim towards me, advising him to get down in the water in order to duck under the waves. I was lying flat on the water as the swells continued to rush over us. But he stood up and was knocked down onto the rocks in the shallows again. “My nose is broken,’ he repeated.

I could not see him well, only a very faint dark figure in pain as I was trying to shine the headlamp towards him so he could see the surf coming in. But the fear in his voice was distinct and clear. He swam towards me and I asked if he could breathe. It was clear that he could breathe easily enough, but he was still in panic, a reasonable reaction for anytime.

I instructed him to swim to the boat in a calm voice. He did quickly as he passed me swimming normal freestyle. I followed him and figured that if he could safely get to the boat, then we could properly address the emergency situation in the light.

At the boat, I checked him out in the water. He cut his forehead and blood was trickling down his face, but he appeared to be well enough to continue. I asked him he wanted to continue and he said let’s go, albeit without a smile.”

First Half

Despite that shocking start, Waschburger soldiered on with his typically solid 61-63 stroke per minute pace, that he eventually held throughout the crossing.

With his length and long arm span, combined with a flat body condition and smooth body rotation, Waschburger’s technique is well suited for marathon swimming and channel crossings. But, even more importantly, he most definitely demonstrated his grit and determination after that scary start.

Like clockwork, his wife Jasmin handed a specially formulated drink from a nutritionist every 20 minutes.

Mid-channel Swimming

Despite the blood visible under his swim cap throughout the swim, Waschburger was more concerned at one point about his urine versus his blood, at least relative to sharks in the ocean. “Can I pee?“, he asked. As Jessica Kieras, PhD once advised, “Sharks in research studies show they have no interest in human bodily fluids. In fact, it is a great way to communicate to them that a swimmer is not a seal.”

He never encountered a shark, but he was visited by pods of friendly dolphins en route to Oahu.

As the winds picked up after the sun started to get higher in the sky, the ocean swells started to get larger.

Waschburger’s navigational IQ was showcased the longer he stayed swimming in the larger swells. “Is it always this rough?“, Jasmin asked on the escort boat. Yes, it was.

It was much rougher with larger waves than anything that he had experienced in his professional marathon swims or his English Channel crossing, but right from the first feeding, he was on record pace and continued to put more and more distance between Mányoki’s old record of 12 hours 2 minutes and his consistent 4-5 kilometer per hour pace from start to finish.

But there was an interesting phenomenon that his support crew observed throughout the day. As the day progressed and the ocean swells got bigger, Waschburger appeared to lengthen out his stroke more and more as he surfed down the backside of the ocean swells. He was literally learning how to adapt to the conditions as they occurred.

https://youtu.be/kw7Kg6ctDDQ

Waschburger had a cut on his forehead and was swimming fast. He also vomited at least 3 times, without breaking his stroke, only once going on his back to project the internal liquids outwards.

But he showed extreme concern when his wife Jasmin vomited a few times. His worry was obviously etched on his face. But like her warrior husband, Jasmine merely wiped her mouth, took a drink of water, and never once missed a beat in preparing his drinks and never taking her eyes off of her husband. The pair are a great match.

The Finish

What was especially impressive was Waschburger’s last two hours when he was really kicking it in. With his newly founded ability to swim down and within the trough of the swells, he swam faster than a 5 kilometer per hour pace towards the end.

He had focused on staying parallel to his small 25′ escort boat, swimming within 1-3 meters of the boat the entire time. He only started to look up within the last kilometer when he could really feel confident that a successful crossing was his. He had known of the problems that his fellow Olympian Petar Stoychev had faced off the Oahu shore that kept him from finishing for hours and hours.

Dr. Minaglia had to swim out from shore at Sandy Beach to guide him through the crashing surf. Waschburger made it safety to shore and set a new course record of 9 hours 55 minutes as he ran up the sand, still bleeding from his forehead wound that he had incurred at the start.

“That record may stand for a very long time,” predicted Munatones. “He is an Olympian and former professional marathon swimmer with a best of 15:16 in the 1500m freestyle, so he has raw pool speed, great stamina, open water experience, and very importantly, grit, determination, and the ability to adapt to changing rough water conditions. That combination will be tough to beat.“

Although there may be easier days to swim the channel, Waschburger was the first person to swim under 12 hours, 11 hours, and 10 hours across the Molokai Channel.

It was a remarkable feat for the German newlywed who now plans on a relaxful honeymoon with his wife.

Waschburger shown with organizer Dr. Minaglia on Sandy Beach, on the eastern shore of Oahu. His forehead and torso were gashed on the rocks even before he took his first stroke.

But the global swimming community will see him again at the IISA 6th World Championship in Molveno, Italy in January. Ice swimming is his thing too.

Remarkable talent. Incredible crossing.

Safety Tip: it is always best to know how to handle crashing surf and manage oncoming waves in any Molokai Channel crossing, at the start or finish. The power of the waves in Hawaii is unlike anything in other Oceans Seven channels. The ability to bodysurf and know how to position your body in crashing waves is extremely important.

Update: Waschburger actually did break his nose as confirmed this morning at a local hospital – the longest open water swim in history with a broken nose. Talk about grit and determination!

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