When Eduardo Collazos Valle-Guayo of Lima (53, Peru, MSF bio here, @eduardo_collazos_) jumps from his escort boat in the darkness to start on his final Oceans Seven channel across the 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel in northern Japan, he will be joined by Steve Walker (57, USA, MSF bio here).

Today was the first day of their swim window, but the conditions are sub-par and they will not swim. But the weather predictions look better for Friday with low winds, light currents, 16.5°C water, and 28°C air temperatures.

As Collazos reports from Aomori, “We are still waiting, ready, and willing to get in the water. We know how stressful this wait is, but we have every faith that the conditions will be right.”

Collazos and Walker will jump in together, but will make their solo crossings separately guided by different escort boats.

Walker made two attempts of the Tsugaru Channel in 2017, but the elusive final crossing of the Oceans Seven has been on his bucket list for the last eight years.

Walker knows all about tough challenges. He wrote Where The Crazy People Swim: Outrageous goals, failure, and success, released in October 2016. He summarizes the book, “Cold water ultra-marathon swimming is about as tough as it gets. When looking at swims, you ask if anyone has done it, if there are jellyfish, and if anyone has died trying it. On most swims, failure is more likely than success. What drives a person to swim long distances in cold water? Why attempt something could kill you? Where the Crazy People Swim lays bare the mind of a swimmer who honestly and candidly describes his fears, his motivations, and his ultimate goal — not only in swimming, but in life. While covered by a veneer of swimming and honesty about failure both in the water and out, this book is about setting outrageous goals and the definition of success.”

Walker was also the co-editor with Dale Petranech of A History of Marathon Swimming, a 536-page book written by Joe Grossman that in 2017 that covers the sport of marathon swimming from 1875 to 1974.

Walker has completed six of the seven Oceans Seven channels – all on his first attempt, except for the very channel where he finds himself this week.

• July 1996: 33.5 km English Channel crossing from England to France in 13 hours 31 minutes
• April 2015: 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar crossing from Spain to Morocco in 3 hours 59 minutes
• November 2015: 32.3 km Catalina Channel crossing from Catalina Island to the Southern California in 12 hours 14 minutes
• August 2016: 35 km North Channel crossing from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 11 hours 19 minutes [shown below]
• February 2017: 45 km Molokai Channel crossing from Molokai to Oahu in Hawaii in 18 hours 8 minutes
• March 2017: 23 km Cook Strait crossing from South Island to North Island in New Zealand in 12 hours 17 minutes
• June 2025: 19.5 km Tsugaru Channel attempt with a tandem start with Eduardo Collazos Valle-Guayo

Others In The Hunt – Six Down, One To Go

There are several other swimmers around the world who are knocking at the Oceans Seven door, just one channel crossing from achieving the feat. The ‘almost-there’ pod of Oceans Seven swimmers include:

• Robert Woodhouse (Australia, 59, MSF bio here)
• Eduardo Collazos Valle-Guayo of Lima (54, Peru, MSF bio here)
• Joe Zemaitis (USA, 45, MSF bio here, IISA bio here @joe.zemaitis)
• John Zemaitis (USA, 41, MSF bio here, IISA bio here)
• Simon Olliver (New Zealand, 60, MSF bio here, IISA bio here)
• Gráinne Moss (née Gunn)  (Ireland, 54, MSF bio here)
• Alessandra Rossi Cima (Brazil, 50, MSF bio here, @ale_rossi_cima_swims)
• Lauren Lesyna (USA, 30, MSF bio here, @swimsintheswells)
• Dean Summers (Australia, 66, MSF bio here)
• Marcia Cleveland (USA, 60, MSF bio here, IISA bio here)
• Pat Gallant-Charette (USA, 73, MSF bio here, @gallantcharette)
• Penny Palfrey (Australia, 62, MSF bio here)
• Ryan Utsumi (USA, 46, MSF bio here)
• Steve Walker (USA, 57, MSF bio here)

Five Down, Two To Go

• Andrey Bozhko (Russia, 38, MSF bio here)
• Bengisu Avci (Turkey, 28, MSF bio here)
• Callum Eade (Australia, 52, MSF bio here)
• Christian Jongeneel (Spain, 50, MSF bio here)
• Craig Lenning (USA, 46, MSF bio here)
• Cynthia Aguilar Valdéz (Mexico, 43, MSF bio here)
• Eduardo Collazos Valle (Peru, 54, MSF bio here)
• Forrest Nelson (USA, 62, MSF bio here)
• Guy Moar (Australia, 57, MSF bio here)
• Jim Barber (USA, 65, MSF bio here)
• Joanne Norman (Australia, 54, MSF bio here)
• John Batchelder (USA, 43, MSF bio here)
• Kamil Resa Alsaran (Turkey, 64, MSF bio here)
• Karen Ennis (Great Britain, 52, MSF bio here)
• Luca Pozzi (Italy, 38, MSF bio here)
• M. Tulasai Chaitanya (India, 36, MSF bio here)
• Marty Filipowski (Australia, 61, MSF bio here)
• Matthias Kaßner (Germany, 57, MSF bio here)
• Paul Feltoe (Australia, 51, MSF bio here)
• Paul Leonard (Great Britain, 53, MSF bio here)
• Sarah Thomas (USA, 42, MSF bio here)
• Suwei Chen (China, 57, MSF bio here)
• Toni Enderli (South Africa, 48, MSF bio here)
• Victor Pineiro (Argentina, 48, MSF bio here)

Oceans Seven Club

1. Stephen Redmond (Ireland)
2. Anna Carin Nordin (Sweden)
3. Michelle Macy (USA)
4. Darren Miller (USA)
5. Adam Walker (UK)
6. Kimberley Chambers (New Zealand)
7. Antonio Argüelles (Mexico)
8. Ion Lazarenco Tiron (Moldavia and Ireland)
9. Rohan Dattatrey More (India)
10. Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic)
11. Cameron Bellamy (South Africa)
12. Lynton Mortensen (Australia)
13. Thomas Pembroke (Australia)
14. Nora Toledano Cadena (Mexico)
15. Mariel Hawley Dávila (Mexico)
16. André Wiersig (Germany)
17. Elizabeth Fry (USA)
18. Attila Mányoki (Hungary)
19. Jonathan Ratcliffe (UK)
20. Jorge Crivilles Villanueva (Spain)
21. Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey)
22. Prabhat Koli (India at 23 years 7 months 5 days, shown below on right)
23. Dina Levačić (Croatia)
24. Herman van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
25. Andy Donaldson (Scotland in 354 days)
26. Stephen Junk (Australia)
27. Kieron Palframan (South Africa)
28. Bárbara Hernández Huerta (Chile)
29. Mark Sowerby (Australia)
30. Paul Georgescu (Romania)
31. Zach Margolis (USA)
32. Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria in 173 days)
33. Nathalie Pohl (Germany)
34. Caitlin O’Reilly (New Zealand at the age of 20 years 7 months 15 days)
35. Ryan Utsumi (USA)

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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