With his Strait of Gibraltar crossing on April 18th, Steve Leitch (51, USA, MSF bio here, @stevemobyleitch) has one more channel to complete the Oceans Seven.

He recalls, “This one felt like a proper channel swim before we ever touched the water. The window was a rollercoaster. We had two canceled starts on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by three days where there was absolutely no chance of swimming the Strait. The weather just would not give us a break. Then Monday came, and the wind was still blowing around 30 knots. At that point, it honestly felt like the window could close without us ever getting a real shot.

Then, by God’s grace, the wind finally started to die. Tuesday morning, the second to last day of our window, we got the call. The sea was still lumpy in the morning, but the wind had settled enough for us to go.

We started from Tarifa and headed toward Morocco, knowing the Strait was not going to hand us anything for free. As we moved across, the swim changed. The middle section was manageable, but as we pushed closer toward Africa, the wind and conditions started building again. It became a gritty finish, the kind where you just keep your head down, trust the boat, stay in rhythm, and keep moving.

It was a real gift to share the water with Alex Rossi (50, Italy, IISA bio here), John Batchelder (45, USA, MSF bio here), and Daniel. Daniel was not able to complete the swim due to unforeseen circumstances, which was tough to see. But Alex completed his first channel swim, John completed his sixth Oceans Seven swim, and I completed my sixth Oceans Seven swim as well. For the record, John did not do this one butterfly. He finally gave the Strait a little freestyle respect.

By the end, I touched the waves down in Africa. Strait of Gibraltar done. Oceans Seven swim number 6 complete in 4 hours and 44 minutes.

Now the story turns toward July 19th. Catalina Channel. Oceans Seven swim number 7. One more crossing. One more fight. One more opportunity to point people beyond the shoreline.“

Batchelder has the Tsugaru Channel in Japan remaining on his Oceans Seven docket.

John Batchelder Oceans Seven Journey

• July 2018: he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Palos Verdes Peninsula to Catalina Island in Southern California in 17 hours 14 minutes 57 seconds
• June 2021: he crossed the 33.5 km English Channel from England to France in 15 hours 58 minutes
• September 2021: he crossed the 45km Molokai Channel from Molokai Island to Oahu in Hawaii in 14 hours 11 minutes
• August 2023: he crossed the 35 km North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 10 hours 53 minutes 24 seconds
• December 2023: he crossed the 23 km Cook Strait from North Island to South Island in New Zealand in 7 hours 0 minutes
• April 2026: he crossed the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 4 hour 45 minutes
• Tsugaru Channel remaining

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