Courtesy of Steve Haumschild, out in the Molokai Channel, Hawaii.

Swiss marathon swimmer Romano Mombelli was hit head to toe with Portuguese man of war during his Molokai Channel crossing that started last night.

“He was in some intense pain,” described Steve Haumschild about the student from the University of Geneva in Switzerland who is aiming for the Oceans Seven. “All over his face, neck, back, arms, legs and toes. Normally, we ask the swimmers to work through the pain either in the water or on the boat because the pain is the same. So they keep swimming. We were able to get him to swim just a little farther, but ultimately the pain caused him to choose to abandoned the swim.”

But even on deck, his crew members who came along also got seasick and the team motored into shore.

Anything can happen…and usually does out in the Molokai Channel.

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