The swimmers of Ocean Navi started out doing 1-2 km coastal ocean swimming competitions throughout Japan over a decade ago. Gradually, they started to challenge themselves to longer swim across the Tsugaru Channel and Sado Channel in northern Japan.
Now the Ocean Navi teams are regularly heading over to Hawaii to attempt crossings of the mightiest and longest channel swim in the Pacific Ocean – the Molokai Channel.
On July 14th at 1:41 am, Hisao Chiba, Chigusa Yamashita, Mitsuhiko Ida, Katsunori Takao, Kenji Kambe, and Mikiyo Hakoneo completed a 45 km crossing of the Molokai Channel from Molokai Island to Oahu under the escort of Michael Twigg-Smith in 15 hours 2 minutes.
The Captain had to adapt to the situation, “Initially we were heading for Alan Davis Beach, but a current from the north provided a Sandy Beach finish.”
Expedition leader Hamone described the 45 km crossing, “We have never experienced such strong trade winds and large ocean swells like that in Japan. We had to keep fighting against the wind chill and sea sickness for over 15 hours. At the end, we all safely landed at Sandy Beach and were welcomed by the local people from the Kaiwi Channel Association. We all thanked them from the bottom of hearts.”
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Thank you so much for all your incredible support. Mike and his team were absolutely marvelous — they gave us their full energy and dedication throughout the swim. We’re also deeply grateful to the Kaiwi Channel Association (KRC), who provided generous support and shared a wealth of valuable information to help us prepare and succeed. The photos at the finish line on Sandy Beach are a once-in-a-lifetime memory, frozen in time.
Love Hawaii. Love the Channel Swim!