With a 13 hour 18 minute crossing of the Molokai Channel, 20-year-old Caitlin O’Reilly from Auckland, New Zealand became the youngest person in history to achieve the Oceans Seven.

She started last night at 5:40 pm from South Pāpōhaku Beach on Molokai Island, swam across in the near beeline to Alan Davis Beach on Oahu under the escort of Michael Twigg-Smith and coaching of fellow renowned Kiwi Philip Rush [shown above].

She reached Oahu at 6:58 am this morning for a 13 hour 18 minute crossing, despite being stung a lot early in the crossing. “It takes a tremendous amount of grit and guts to get stung badly as the sun is setting and the ocean swells are huge, knowing you have a long night of unknowns ahead of you,” observed Steven Munatones. “But Caitlin definitely has what it takes to become an Oceans Seven swimmer.”

Oceans Seven History to date:

• Cook Strait: She became the youngest female to cross the 23 km Cook Strait between the North Island and South Island under the escort of Philip Rush in 2017 in 7 hours 19 minutes at the age of 12. Her coach was John Gatfield who was 13 years 3 months at the time of his own Cook Strait crossing in 2004.
• Tsugaru Channel: In 2022, she crossed the 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel from Aomori Prefecture to Hokkaido in northern Japan in 11 hours 37 minutes at the age of 18.
• English Channel: In 2023, she completed the 33.5 km English Channel from England to France in 9 hours 34 minutes at the age of 19.
• North Channel: 15 days later in 2023, she completed the 35 km crossing of the North Channel from Nothern Ireland to Scotland in 9 hours 57 minutes.
• Strait of Gibraltar: The next month in 2023, she completed the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 6 hours 19 minutes.
• Catalina Channel: In 2024, she completed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California  mainland in 8 hours 56 minutes at the age of 20.
• Molokai Channel: Swimming through the night, she completed a 42 km crossing of the Molokai Channel from Molokai Island, heading for Oahu in 13 hours 18 minutes at the age of 20 years 7 months 15 days.

Her two trackers from Molokai to Oahu are posted here and here.

Oceans Seven Swimmers

1. Stephen Redmond (Ireland)
2. Anna Carin Nordin (Sweden)
3. Michelle Macy (USA)
4. Darren Miller (USA)
5. Adam Walker (UK)
6. Kimberley Chambers (New Zealand)
7. Antonio Argüelles (Mexico)
8. Ion Lazarenco Tiron (Moldavia and Ireland)
9. Rohan Dattatrey More (India)
10. Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic)
11. Cameron Bellamy (South Africa)
12. Lynton Mortensen (Australia)
13. Thomas Pembroke (Australia)
14. Nora Toledano Cadena (Mexico)
15. Mariel Hawley Dávila (Mexico)
16. André Wiersig (Germany)
17. Elizabeth Fry (USA)
18. Attila Mányoki (Hungary)
19. Jonathan Ratcliffe (UK)
20. Jorge Crivilles Villanueva (Spain)
21. Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey)
22. Prabhat Koli (India at 23 years 7 months 5 days, shown below on right)
23. Dina Levačić (Croatia)
24. Herman van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
25. Andy Donaldson (Scotland in 354 days)
26. Stephen Junk (Australia)
27. Kieron Palframan (South Africa)
28. Bárbara Hernández Huerta (Chile)
29. Mark Sowerby (Australia)
30. Paul Georgescu (Romania)
31. Zach Margolis (USA
32. Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria in 173 days)
33. Nathalie Pohl (Germany)
34. Caitlin O’Reilly (New Zealand at the age of 20 years 7 months 15 days)

There are two other young channel swimmers currently in the Oceans Seven hunt: 21-year-old Michael Payne of Australia (shown below on left with one more channel to go) and 19-year-old Anshuman Jhingran of India (shown below in middle). They both have the potential to break the Youngest Oceans Seven male record of India’s Prabhat Koli who became an Oceans Seven swimmer at 23 years 7 months 5 days.

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