Japanese swimmer Masayuki Moriya came back after a failed attempt across the Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido last year to triumph over the channel this week in a wetsuit swim.

The neoprene-clad Japanese coach completed one of the Oceans Seven channels in 11 hours 55 minutes. He had previously crossed the Tsugaru Channel in 2008 and 2009 and was the coach and navigator for a young blind swimmer in the Channel. He was also part of a relay team, but he finally made it as an individual.

After swimming for nearly half a day and climbing up onshore, Moriya-san was finally able to relish in the tremendous emotional rush of joy, the relief and the satisfaction that every marathon swimmer feels upon success. That inner glow and corresponding uplift in confidence and self-satisfaction carries over on terra firma, especially after such a long road of preparation and initial disappointment.

A job very well done.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source