Courtesy of Channel Swim Japan, Tsugaru Channel, northern Japan.
39-year-old Ryan Utsumi swam one of the fastest Tsugaru Channel crossings in history with an 8 hour 28 minute crossing in northern Japan.
Starting on the same day and same location at Kodomari, the San Francisco swimmer cut quickly across the Tsugaru Current on his third Oceans Seven crossing in the 15°C water, finishing near Shirakami Misaki on the Matsumae Peninsula in Hokkaidō.
Fastest Tsugaru Channel Crossings In History
1. Steven Munatones (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 6 hours 11 minutes in 1990
2. Steven Munatones (USA) Hokkaido-to-Honshu in 6 hours 39 minutes in 1990
3. Attila Mányoki (Hungary) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 7 hours 29 minutes in 2014
4. Jorge Crivilles Villanueva (Spain) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 8 hours 28 minutes in 2017
4. Ryan Utsumi (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 8 hours 28 minutes in 2018
6. Honoka Hasegawa (Japan) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 8 hours 31 minutes in 2016
7. Michelle Macy (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 8 hours 55 minutes in 2012
8. Forrest Nelson (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 9 hours 26 minutes in 2012
9. Kimberley Chambers (New Zealand) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 9 hours 38 minutes in 2014
10. Prabhat Raju Koli (India) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 9 hours 52 minutes in 2017
11. Toshio Tominaga (Japan) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 9 hours 58 minutes in 2016
12. Rohans More (India) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 10 hours 37 minutes in 2015
13. Craig Lenning (USA) Hokkaido-to-Honshu in 10 hours 44 minutes in 2012
14. Stephen Junk (Australia) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 11 hours 2 minutes in 2016
15. Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 11 hours 7 minutes in 2016
16. Cameron Bellamy (South Africa) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 11 hours 7 minutes in 2018
17. Ion Lazarenco Tiron (Moldova) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 11 hours 20 minutes in 2017
18. Guy Moar (Australia) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 11 hours 32 minutes in 2015
19. Miyuki Fujita (Japan) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 11 hours 36 minutes in 2005
20. Masayuki Moriya (Japan) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 11 hours 55 minutes in 2011 [wetsuit]
21. Antonio Argüelles (Mexico) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 12 hours 38 minutes in 2015
22. Stephen Redmond (Ireland) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 12 hours 45 minutes in 2012
23. David Yudovin (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 13 hours 10 minutes in 1990
24. Daniel Curtis (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 13 hours 39 minutes in 2015
25. Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 14 hours 2 minutes in 2017
26. Penny Palfrey (Australia) Hokkaido-to-Honshu in 14 hours 30 minutes in 2011
27. Adam Walker (Great Britain) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 15 hours 31 minutes in 2013
28. Elizabeth Fry (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 15 hours 48 minutes in 2016
29. Darren Miller (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 15 hours 55 minutes in 2012
30. Anna-Carin Nordin (Sweden) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 19 hours 11 minutes in 2012
31. Pat Gallant-Charette (USA) Honshu-to-Hokkaido in 19 hours 36 minutes in 2012
For more information on the Tsugaru Channel, visit the Tsugaru Channel Swimming Association site here.
Copyright © 2008-2018 by World Open Water Swimming Association