On March 26th, Virgilio Graco Morlan (Mexico, 49, MSF bio here, @gracomorlan) joined Joel Matos Ortiz (Puerto Rico, 36, MSF bio here, @joelmatosultra) in a 7 hour 48 minute tandem swim across the 23 km Cook Strait in New Zealand.
The cold crossing was Morlan’s fifth successful Oceans Seven channel crossing:
Morlan en route to the Oceans Seven
- June 2016: English Channel in 12 hours 26 minutes
- May 2017: Strait of Gibraltar in 3 hours 43 minutes
- July 2019: Catalina Channel in 25 hours 37 minutes (two-way with a 11:59 on the first leg and 13:38 on the second leg)
- September 2020: English Channel in 11 hours 33 minutes
- August 2023: Strait of Gibraltar in 9 hours 45 minutes (two-way crossing)
- September 2024: Molokai Channel in 15 hours 33 minutes on the first leg of a two-way attempt that ended after 20 hours 58 minutes
- March 2025: Cook Strait in 7 hours 48 minutes
The cold crossing was Ortiz’s fourth successful Oceans Seven channel crossing:
Ortiz en route to the Oceans Seven
- July 2021: Catalina Channel in 11 hours 56 minutes
- August 2021: English Channel in 13 hours 11 minutes
- August 2023: Strait of Gibraltar in 9 hours 45 minutes
- March 2025: Cook Strait in 7 hours 48 minutes
This week, the two tandem swimmers were also part of a successful week of Cook Strait crossings with Jaime Lomelín Gavaldón (Mexico, 61, MSF bio here) and Stève Stievenart (France, 47, MSF bio here, IISA bio here) also making successful Cook Strait solo crossings. They were escorted by Grant Orchard of Katabatic Charters.
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