Jeff Orenstein, an American living in London, traveled to northern Japan with his Red Top Swimming coach Matt Duggan and set off on a crossing of the Tsugaru Channel. With the English Channel, Catalina Channel, and the Strait of Gibraltar under his cap, the 59-year-old is on his Oceans Seven journey.
The Tsugaru Channel on July 7th, however, proved to be more difficult than he had hoped.
After waiting nearly his entire swim window waiting for the strong rains and winds to level off, Orenstein was given the green light on July 12th to start at 4 am the next morning by Captain Hashimoto.
The drive to the Kodomari Port was an ominous start to the swim. The conditions were very foggy and, at times, Coach Duggan has to nearly come to a stop, either for monkeys or due to the dense fog.
The ride out from Kodomari Port to Kodomari Cape was the second sign: to describe the conditions as bumpy would be an understatement.
But Orenstein was greased up and eager to start, giving no indication of any hesitation or lack of confidence.
But the conditions started out rough and stayed difficult for the first six hours. Orenstein, a former age group swimmer from Northern California and a collegiate swimmer at Brown University, kept up his 68 stroke per minute pace right from the start. But the first 200 meters took him over 8 minutes, not a good sign. And things did not seem to get much better over the first 6 km that took him 2 hours under continuous randomly bumpy seas.
“The sunrise was beautiful,” he recalled. “But that was tough and I did not know if I could continue this pace under these conditions for another 12, 14 hours.“
Despite his first 3 feeds, he first drank quickly and vomited even quicker. But his stroke remained steady and his crew saw him willing himself forward. Coach Duggan never wavered as he had to hold onto the sides of the boat to maintain his eagle-eye perth on the deck of Captain Hashimoto’s squid-fishing boat. Orenstein progressed 3.05 km in 1 hour, 6.1 km over the first 2 hours, and 8.75 km in 3 hours. As steady were the waves so was Orenstein’s stroke. The steady rain of last several days stopped as sun peeked through the overcast skies, giving Orenstein a view of the Aomori coastline.
Winds were also quite light given the conditions, but the Sea of Japan was definitely unsettled. The random waves just keep on battering Orenstin who traversed 11.68 km after 4 hours. By hour six, he was not close to halfway, but the seas started to smoothed out and made his progress easier. It was almost as if Orenstein had stared down the Sea of Japan and Mother Nature was apparently giving him safe passage over the next few hours in the 21°C water.
But she decided to change her mind and threw a 6.8 knot Tsugaru Current around the 9-hour mark. “I would go through patches of really cold water and I saw Hokkaido ahead of me. It gave me hope.” The texture of the water in mid-channel was constantly changing as Orenstein plowed through, from larger rolling swells to smaller irregular chop coming from random directions. The direction of the swells and chop always was changing from the north to the south, from slamming Orenstein from his back and then from his front and sides.
But what he could not see was the speed at which he was being moved parallel to the Hokkaido shore in the Tsugaru Current that ranged from 4.7 knots to 6.8 knots in the deepest part of the channel at 220 meters deep.
At one point, his crew clearly saw the contours of Hokkaido and a handful of buildings at the closest point, but Orenstein was never able to break though the current that was running parallel to the coast. After 8 hours 30 minutes in the crossing, Orenstein had covered 26 km by was literally being swept back to Aomori Prefecture to its western cape.
Coach Duggan gave Orenstein the latest update and they decided to give it one more shot to try to break through the Tsugaru Current. If they could get to shallower water, out of the 220-meter depths, they could face to shore in a more swimmable current.
After covering 29.43 km after 9 hours, Duggan asked Orenstein to swim fast. He responded and simply was moved further down the coast and away from Hokkaido. At 10 hours 30 minutes, they decided to return to Tsugaru another day. His disappointment was palpable, but he knew he had given it his best and his last hour of swimming was his fastest. Over the last 60 minutes, he simply put his head down and got on with it. It was 100% grit.
He will be back. He gave a very heartfelt, profoundly appreciative video message to his coaches, teammates, and supporters on the boat heading back to shore.
Karaoke Across The Tsugaru Channel
Overlooking Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan is a large stone monument that pays tribute to a song by Ishikawa Sayuri called Tsugaru Kaikyou Fuyugeshiki (津軽海峡冬景色 that means Tsugaru Winter Scene in English).
Ishikawa is one of the most-recognized and successful Japanese enka singers in history. The lyrics of her hit song of 1977 are etched into the stone. Its English-language translation is as followers:
Since I stepped off the night train departing from Ueno, Aomori Station was within the snow In the crowd of people returning north, everyone is silent.
I hear only the rumbling of the sea I, too, ride alone on a connecting ferry. I gazed at the seagulls that seemed like they would freeze and cried.
Ah, the Tsugaru Strait winter scenery…
Look, that is Cape Tappi, at the outskirts of the north. People I do not recognize point their fingers.
I tried wiping the window glass that my breath clouded up, But I see only haze in the distance.
Goodbye, my dear. I am going back.
The sound of the wind shakes my chest, and all I can do is cry.
Ah, the Tsugaru Strait winter scenery…
Goodbye, my dear. I am going back.
The sound of the wind shakes my chest, and all I can do is cry. Ah, the Tsugaru Strait winter scenery…
In contemporary times, now marathon swimmers from around the world – like Jeff Orenstein – attempt to swim across the Tsugaru Channel in the summer months.
Tsugaru Channel Swimmers
1. David Yudovin (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 13 hours 10 minutes (7 July 1990)
2. Steven Munatones (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 6 hours 11 minutes 17 seconds (July 1990)
3. Steven Munatones (USA) solo single crossing (Hokkaido-to-Honshu) in 6 hours 39 minutes (July 1990)
4. Chieko Osako (Japan) solo single crossing (Hokkaido-to-Honshu) in 12 hours 28 minutes (August 1994)
5. Miyuki Fujita (Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 36 minutes (2005)
6. Miyuki Fujita (Japan) solo single crossing (Hokkaido-to-Honshu) on 31 August 2006
7. Miyuki Fujita (Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) on 2 September 2006
8. Miyuki Fujita (Japan) solo single crossing (Hokkaido-to-Honshu) on 4 September 2006
9. Masayuki Moriya (Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 55 minutes (2011) in wetsuit
10. Penny Palfrey (Australia) solo single crossing (Hokkaido-to-Honshu) in 14 hours 30 minutes (2011)
11. Darren Miller (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 15 hours 55 minutes (2012)
12. Stephen Redmond (Ireland) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 12 hours 45 minutes (2012)
13. Michelle Macy (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 8 hours 55 minutes (2012)
14. Forrest Nelson (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 26 minutes (2012)
15. Craig Lenning (USA) solo single crossing (Hokkaido-to-Honshu) in 10 hours 44 minutes (2012)
16. Pat Gallant-Charette (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 19 hours 36 minutes (2012)
17. Anna-Carin Nordin (Sweden) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 19 hours 11 minutes (2012)
18. Kenichi Setsumasa (Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 7 hours 30 minutes (2012)
19. Adam Walker (Great Britain) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 15 hours 31 minutes (2013)
20. Kimberley Chambers (New Zealand) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 38 minutes (2014)
21. Attila Mányoki (Hungary) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 7 hours 29 minutes (2014)
22. Guy Moar (Australia) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 32 minutes (2015)
23. Daniel Curtis (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 13 hours 39 minutes (2015)
24. Antonio Argüelles (Mexico) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 12 hours 38 minutes (2015)
25. Rohans More (India) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 37 minutes (2015)
26. Liz Fry (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 15 hours 48 minutes (2015)
27. Abhejali Bernardova (Czech Republic) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 7 minutes (2016)
28. Stephen Junk (Australia) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 2 minutes (2016)
29. Honoka Hasegawa (Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 8 hours 31 minutes (2016)
30. Toshio Tominaga (Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 58 minutes (2016)
31. Elizabeth Fry (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 15 hours 48 minutes (2016)
32. Ion Lazarenco Tiron (Moldova) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 20 minutes (2017)
33. Jorge Crivilles Villanueva (Spain) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 8 hours 28 minutes (2017)
34. Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 14 hours 2 minutes 9 seconds (2017)
35. Prabhat Raju Koli (India) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 52 minutes (2017)
36. Cameron Bellamy (South Africa) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 7 minutes 28 seconds (2018)
37. Ryan Utsumi (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 8 hours 46 minutes (2018)
38. Nora Toledano Cadena (Mexico) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido in a tandem swim with Mariel Hawley Dávila) in 6 hrs 20 minutes 52 seconds (2018)
39. Mariel Hawley Dávila (Mexico) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido in a tandem swim with Nora Toledano Cadena) in 6 hours 20 minutes 52 seconds (2018)
40. André Wiersig (Germany) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 12 hours 55 minutes (2018)
41. Andrew Hunt (Australia) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 52 minutes (2018)
42. Tomonari Ogino (Japan) solo wetsuit crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 12 hours 5 minutes 50 seconds (2018)
43. Thomas Pembroke (Australia) solo solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 15 hours 1 minutes 30 seconds (2018)
44. Lynton Mortensen (Australia) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 34 minutes 15 seconds (2018)
45. Masaki Sugita (Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 13 hours 18 minutes 43 seconds (2018)
46. Simon Olliver (New Zealand) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 58 minutes 0 seconds (2018)
47. Bogusław Ogrodnik (Poland) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 12 hours 30 minutes (2018)
48. Jonathan Ratcliffe (UK) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 0 minutes (2019)
49. Claire Faranda (France) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 51 minutes 24 seconds (2019)
50. Kieron Palframan (South Africa) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 8 hours 41 minutes 5 seconds (2019)
51. Nathalie Pohl (Germany) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 9 minutes 40 seconds (2019)
52. Marcia Cleveland (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 11 minutes 2 seconds (2019)
53. Dina Levacic (Croatia) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 7 hours 13 minutes 15 seconds (2019)
54. Matthias Kaßner (Germany) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 45 minutes (2019)
55. Emre Erdogan (Turkey) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 7 hours 36 minutes (2019)
56. Luca Pozzi (Italy) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 8 hours 20 minutes 58 seconds (2019)
57. Herman van der Westhuizen (South Africa) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 22 minutes 37 seconds (2019)
58. Mitsuru Okazaki (Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 57 minutes 5 seconds (2021) in a wetsuit
59. Caitlin O’Reilly (New Zealand) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 37 minutes 41 seconds (2022)
60. Tariq Qazi (USA/Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 20 minutes 17 seconds (2022)
61. Ayaka Matsushita （Japan) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 59 minutes 56 seconds (2022)
62. Andrew Donaldson (Scotland) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 13 hours 4 minutes (2023)
63. Bárbara Hernández Huerta (Chile) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 40 minutes (2024)
64. Mark Sowerby (Australia) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 6 minutes (2024)
65. Zach Margolis (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-to-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 13 minutes (2024)
66. Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 9 hours 30 minutes (2024)
67. Steven Leitch (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 10 hours 3 minutes (2025)
68. Eduardo Collazos Valle-Guayo (Peru) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 12 hours 11 minutes (2025)
69. Rob Woodhouse (Australia) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 50 minutes (2025)
70. Andreas Waschburger (Germany) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 8 hours 43 minutes 21 seconds (2025)
71. Alessandra Cima (Brazil) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) (2025)
72. Joanne Norman (Australia) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 13 hours 17 minutes (2025)
73. Paul Leonard (Great Britain) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 45 minutes (2026)
74. Gráinne Moss (Ireland) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 12 hours 39 minutes (2026)
75. Karen Ennis (Great Britain) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in hours minutes (2026)
76. Anshuman Jhingran (India) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 12 hours 39 minutes (2026)
77. Joe Zemaitis (USA) solo single crossing (Honshu-Hokkaido) in 11 hours 51 minutes (2026)
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“
World Open Water Swimming Federation, a human-powered project
New Open Water Swimming Educational and Motivational Course – register here