52-year-old channel swimmer Paul Leonard from Tarporley, Cheshire (Great Britain, 52, MSF bio here) was bitten by a cookiecutter shark on his left foot just below his ankle on a Molokai Channel attempt back in March 2025.
After four hours taking off from South Pāpōhaku Beach on Molokai Island last year, Leonard had covered 12 km, but Twigg-Smith was worried about a strong current. Around midnight, escort boat pilot Michael Twigg-Smith and Leonard suddenly had much more to worry about. It was dark and something had just bitten him. He could not see what it was, but he quickly kicked something off his foot, averting a deeper and potentially more dangerous bite…from something.
Escort kayaker Jeff Villinger was next to him in the darkness. He radioed Twigg-Smith on the boat while Leonard yelled in pain as he swam straight for the escort boat. Twigg-Smith immediately recognized the situation and swung his boat right in front of Leonard who quickly got out of the water.
His support crew knew an emergency of the highest priority was on hand. Leonard needed to be rushed to a hospital.
His dream of a completing his fifth Oceans Seven channel came to an immediate stop. His personal goal was a non-priority at this point. After completing of the English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Catalina Channel, and Cook Strait, his priority was his safety and receiving immediate medical care.
Twigg-Smith recalled, “I had put on a fresh Shark Shield on at 9:30 pm so apparently it was not effective against this type of fish. We were back at Ala Wai Harbor [on Oahu] just before 2 am, where my wife met us and took Paul and Red Top Swimming coach Matt Duggan to Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu. Paul was in good spirits, mentioning he will be back later this year.“
Today, Leonard came back – remarkably so – after his 13-stitch shark bite in March.
Shark encounters in the Molokai Channel have been noted since International Marathon Swimming Hall of Famer Greta Andersen attempted a Molokai Channel crossing in 1958. Towards the end of her attempt, she was reluctantly forced out due to tiger sharks. In 2019, Twigg-Smith escorted three Molokai Channel swimmers in a single season who had encountered or were bitten by sharks during a five-month period: Adherbal de Oliveira of Brazil, Eric Schall and Isaiah Mojica, both of the USA. Earlier this year, Twigg-Smith also had to deal with cookiecutter bites of Leonard and Joanne Norman.
But today on a nearly ideal day, Leonard made good on his commitment to come back to Hawaii.
No shark attacks, no shark encounters. No trauma, no drama. His crossing was solidly safe and resoundedly successful.
Instead, Leonard started his crossing from Sandy Beach on Oahu at 2:44 am this morning. There was calm, glassy water with no currents across the channel under a bright Harvest Moon. He completed one of the very few Oahu-to-Molokai crossings in history, following in the wake of Harry Huffaker in 1972 in 16 hours 15 minutes, Forrest Nelson in 2006 in 16 hours 36 minutes, and Graco Morlan in 2024 in 15 hours 33 minutes.
He landed on South Papohako Beach on Molokai Island, all safe and sound after 13 hours 50 minutes.
Photos courtesy of Michael Twigg-Smith.
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