Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
56-year-old Stephen Junk is now in rarified air in the channel swimming world. Junk crossed off his sixth Oceans Seven channel today with a tough crossing of the Molokai Channel.
He completed the Molokai Channel swim today in 13 hour 50 minutes on the same day that Ion Lazarenco Tiron from Moldava also completed a crossing. “I started at 4:07 pm yesterday and swam through the night. The conditions were a lot rougher than forecasted and I got very seasick.
Also there were a lot of nasty jellyfish, as if I wasn’t in enough pain.
I have got to say this was the hardest of the Oceans Seven channel so far. I am glad it’s over.”
Junk now stands tied for seventh in the Oceans Seven rankings after being escorted by Mike Twigg-Smith with kayakers Mike and Dan and Ola Tylestam as his crew on board.
Oceans Seven Completed:
1. Stephen Redmond (Ireland): English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Catalina Channel, Cook Strait, Molokai Channel, Tsugaru Channel, North Channel
1. Anna-Carin Nordin (Sweden): Molokai Channel, English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Catalina Channel, Tsugaru Channel, Cook Strait, North Channel
1. Michelle Macy (USA): English Channel (3 times), Catalina Channel, Molokai Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Cook Strait, Tsugaru Channel, North Channel
1. Darren Miller (USA): English Channel, Catalina Channel, Molokai Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Tsugaru Channel, Cook Strait, North Channel
1. Adam Walker (UK): English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Molokai Channel, Catalina Channel, Tsugaru Channel, Cook Strait, North Channel
1. Kimberly Chambers (New Zealand): Cook Strait, Molokai Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Catalina Channel, English Channel, Tsugaru Channel, North Channel
6 Channels Done with 1 More to Go
7. Penny Palfrey (Australia): English Channel (2 times), Strait of Gibraltar, Catalina Channel, Cook Strait, Molokai Channel, Tsugaru Channel
7. Stephen Junk (Australia): English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Cook Strait, Catalina Channel, Tsugaru Channel
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