Bengisu Avic started from the shores of Molokai Island last night at 5:48 pm on her attempt to complete a crossing of the Kaiwi Channel.

She sprinted into the rough ocean water, and started with a rapid turnover. As the sun set, she continued to swim well and swam very well throughout the night and into the early morning.

With the beautiful morning twilight, the outline of her goal of the east shore of Oahu came into sight. With only 15 kilometers to go, the crossing looked good.

But then in a blink of an eye, she swam into jellyfish and her dream – at least today – was dashed as the venom was too great to overcome.

One stroke, one moment in time, one chance encounter…and the pain is immediate in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Egor Tropeano summed up the encounter, “I was crewing [for] Bengisu yesterday. She got stung twice. One of the two was a box jellyfish, so she is lucky to be alive as it takes nothing to get knocked out and sink. She used a special repellant called Sting No More, but it did not work. I’d say, nothing works but luck, there is no way you can finish the Moloka’i swim if you get stung at any point. She was doing amazing, nice and fast till the jellies popped up at 32nd kilometer. It’s hard to accept but it is what it is.”

The 27-year-old Turkish coach from İzmir on the Aegean Sea is heading back to shore and will reassess her schedule to complete the Oceans Seven with planned crossings of the cold 35 km North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the always tricky 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel in northern Japan.

To keep up with her travel plans, follow her on Instagram @bengisuavic.

Former English Channel record holder and 4-time Olympic swimmer Petar Stoychev is up next in the Molokai Channel this week.

© Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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