A DNF is always disappointing, frustrating, and a punch in the gut, but aborting a swim or race reminds us how difficult trying to achieve one’s greatest dreams in the ocean, lakes, and rivers can be.
Captain Mike Twigg-Smith who has seen many successes and failures across the Molokai Channel in Hawaii says, “A DNF is a sobering reminder that even with favorable winds and currents, swimming Molokai is very tough. Anyone who attempts the Ka’iwi Channel swim should be well prepared for extreme circumstances.”
A young Canadian extreme athlete Nick Pelletier knows that feeling well after his March 21st attempt across Molokai. Captain Mike recalls, “Nick swam for 14 hours, but had to get out of the water 16 km off Alan Davis Beach [on Oahu]. He was seasick and in a lot of pain from Portuguese man o war stings. His progress over the last 4 hours of his swim was 1200 meters. He was able to hold the rhumb line the whole time with a tail current pushing towards Oahu for 6 hours, earlier in the swim.”
Pelletier’s latest channel swim DNF comes after a series of aborted attempts at swimming 106 km across Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. He documented his attempts in a series of Sink or Swim videos:
He says, “If you can learn to accept and make peace with your current situation, you’ll gain the ability to identify comfort and gratitude in any situation, good or bad, throughout your life.
After his DNF in the Molokai Channel, he became reflective, “Comfort Breeds Complacency is the mantra that I live my life by. It’s what allows me to continue to grow, as a person, and as an athlete. Continuing to strive to reach the potential I feel I have for myself. I find pride in following through on the commitments I make to myself. I’m beyond disappointed with how my Kaiwi Channel swim attempt turned out, but I am grateful for the experience, lessons learned, and that I have such immense support from my immediate crew, and all those following along at home. I take on these challenges vs Mother Nature to test my will and perseverance in elements where the highest stakes are present. This is what excites me, what my passion is fuelled from, where those rare 10/10 moments are forged. I learned so much from this attempt that I will utilize in all my endeavours going forward. You can’t buy experience like this, it must be earned first hand. No finish is ever guaranteed, especially when dealing with Mother Nature. She doesn’t care if you succeed or fail, live or die, and whenever I enter an endeavour like this, I’m prepared for any and all outcomes, no matter what they may be. I’m thankful that the response from my crew has allowed me to fight another day. Just know that all I have to offer is effort, and I will do that until I physically no longer can.”
A wise young man, Nick Pelletier.
Follow him at nickpelletier.ca and @npadventure.
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