Andreas Waschburger (Germany, 37, MSF bio here, @andreaswaschburger) is in New Zealand now ready to take on the 23 km Cook Strait as his third Oceans Seven channel.
The water is now 14°C in the Cook Strait where Waschburger will be escorted by Philip Rush and is sponsored by HYLO Sport (see here). His journey began in his hometown, then onto Frankfurt, Bangkok, Sydney, and Wellington. The journey took over 44 hours, but his swim window is near; sometime between March 20th to 26th.
His Oceans Seven journey began with a 6 hour 45 minute crossing of the English Channel. His preparations and record-setting swim were captured by young filmmakers Rouven Pagliarini and Janis Scheuermann in a new production, Through High & Low.
The 37-minute video was released on YouTube yesterday.
Fastest English Channel Crossings in History [all England to France]
1. Andreas Waschburger (Germany) in September 2023 in 6 hours 45 minutes at the age of 36
2. Trent Grimsey (Australia) in September 2012 in 6 hours 55 minutes at the age of 24
3. Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria) in August 2007 in 6 hours 56 minutes at the age of 30
4. Christof Wandratsch (Germany) in August 2005 in 7 hours 3 minutes at the age of 38
5. Yuri Kudinov (Russia) in August 2007 in 7 hours 5 minutes at the age of 28
5. Rostislav Vítek (Czech Republic) in August 2009 in 7 hours 16 minutes at the age of 33
6. Chad Hundeby (USA) in September 1994 in 7 hours 17 minutes at the age of 23
7. Christof Wandratsch (Germany) in August 2003 in 7 hours 20 minutes at the age of 36
8. Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria) in August 2006 in 7 hours 21 minutes at the age of 29
9. David Meca Medina (Spain) in August 2005 in 7 hours 22 minutes at the age of 31
10. Yvetta Hlaváčová (Czech Republic) in August 2006 in 7 hours 25 minutes at the age of 31
11. Penny Lee Dean (USA) in July 1978 in 7 hours 40 minutes at the age of 23
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What a fantastic film, would love to understand this story in English as there is only German (auto-generated) subtitles available. HUGE congratulations Andrea and team! Phenomenal time! 👌🏻