Randy Perkins of Seattle, Washington, also known as the Conquistador with his latest exploit, recently joined a pantheon of extreme swimming greats when he crossed the Strait of Magellan this January.

Situated between Chile and Argentina at the tip of South America and Tierra del Fuego, the waterway is the unpredictable gateway between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans with williwaws and swirling currents.

After the Lynne Cox broke the ice with her Strait of Magellan crossing in 1976, then Pedro Ordenes (Chile, 1999), Gustavo Oriozabala (Argentina, 2001), Rachel Golub (USA, 2009), Cristian Vergara (USA/Chile, 2009), Scott Lautman (USA, 2009), Mark Lautman (USA, 2009 with wetsuit), Rafal Ziobro (Poland, 2011), Ryan Stramrood (South Africa, 2011), Kieron Palframan (South Africa, 2011), Toks Viviers, (South Africa, 2011), Andrew Chin (South Africa, 2011), and most recently Randy Perkins (USA, 2013) also completed the formidable task.

Coastie Rob and Coach Pedro Ordenes describe Perkins‘s crossing in detail here.

Photo by Coastie Rob.

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