A common question faced by channel swimmers is, “Aren’t you afraid of sharks?”
In the case of Joanne Norman (Australia, 54, MSF bio here, @jo_in_the_desert), a mother of four children, the answer is apparently no.
Since having a chunk of her stomach literally eaten by a cookiecutter shark in a crossing between Molokai Island and Oahu in March 2025, Norman has continued to forge on, establishing her pedigree with pure Aussie grit and gutsy performances. After the shark bit, Norman successfully crossed the Tsugaru Channel in Japan and is en route to crossing the Molokai Channel with Captain Michael Twigg-Smith at the helm of her escort boat.
She walked off the shore at North Pāpōhaku Beach on Molokai Island at 3:11 am local time this morning on her final leg of the Oceans Seven.
Prior to her start with Red Top Swimming Club coach Matt Duggan on her boat, Norman said, “In 12 hours I will start my final Ocean Seven swim – 45 km from Molokai to Oahu. The final lap is here. I’m sitting on the balcony of the apartment thinking about my journey wondering how I got here – this all started with wanting to do something ‘out of the box’ for my 50th [birthday].
I guess I’m a sucker for a challenge. While these swims humble you and push you to your limit you come away a very different person. I am not the person I was when I started this journey. I have learnt alot about who I am, particularly when faced with a traumatic event. I would be lying to say I am not nervous, I am. But I also know that I have done everything in my control to be back here, the channel will decide if I am worthy of completing this swim.”
Captain Twigg-Smith remarked, “Joanne did an awesome job in the Molokai Channel on March 1st. The wind and currents were tame and even favorable, but the seas were confused. She powered through and persevered.”
Follow her Oceans Seven journey here.
Oceans Seven Journey
- July 2021: crossed the 33.5 km English Channel from England to France in 12 hours 42 minutes at the age of 50
- April 2023: crossed the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 3 hours 18 minutes at the age of 52
- October 2023: crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California in 11 hours 42 minutes at the age of 53 to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming
- January 2024: crossed the 23 km Cook Strait in 8 hours 3 minutes at the age of 53 in a tandem swim with Mark Sowerby
- September 2024: crossed the 35 km North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland in 13 hours 8 minutes
- March 2025: aborted her 45 km crossing of the Molokai Channel from Molokai Island to Oahu after swimming, approximately 15 km from Alan Davis Beach on Oahu
- July 2025: completed a 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel from Aomori to Hokkaido in northern Japan in 13 hours 17 minutes at the age of 54, 4 months after being bitten by a cookiecutter shark in the Molokai Channel
- Update: finished her 45 km Molokai Channel crossing at 5:26 pm at Alan Davis Beach in 14 hours 15 minutes
Oceans Seven Swimmers
43 humans in history have completed the Oceans Seven as of today, May 1st 2026:
- Stephen Redmond (Ireland)
- Anna Carin Nordin (Sweden)
- Michelle Macy (USA)
- Darren Miller (USA)
- Adam Walker (UK)
- Kimberley Chambers (New Zealand)
- Antonio Argüelles (Mexico)
- Ion Lazarenco Tiron (Moldavia and Ireland)
- Rohan Dattatrey More (India)
- Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic)
- Cameron Bellamy (South Africa)
- Lynton Mortensen (Australia)
- Thomas Pembroke (Australia)
- Nora Toledano Cadena (Mexico)
- Mariel Hawley Dávila (Mexico)
- André Wiersig (Germany)
- Elizabeth Fry (USA)
- Attila Mányoki (Hungary)
- Jonathan Ratcliffe (UK)
- Jorge Crivilles Villanueva (Spain)
- Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey)
- Prabhat Koli (India)
- Dina Levačić (Croatia)
- Herman van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
- Andy Donaldson (Scotland)
- Stephen Junk (Australia)
- Kieron Palframan (South Africa)
- Bárbara Hernández Huerta (Chile)
- Mark Sowerby (Australia)
- Paul Georgescu (Romania)
- Zach Margolis (USA
- Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria)
- Nathalie Pohl (Germany)
- Caitlin O’Reilly (New Zealand)
- Ryan Utsumi (USA)
- Marcia Cleveland (USA)
- Eduardo Collazos Valle-Guayo (Peru)
- Rob Woodhouse (Australia)
- Alessandra Cima, Brazil
- Bengisu Avci, Turkey
- Simon Olliver, New Zealand
- Andreas Waschburger, Germany
- Joanne Norman, Australia
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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