First woman to swim Cook Strait

American Lynne Cox swam from the North Island to the South in 12 hours 7 minutes. She battled heavy seas and strong winds, and on two occasions the Cook Strait cargo ferry Aratika hove to alongside her to protect her from the wind. The ferry flew the American flag as a symbolic gesture of support.

The 22.5 km crossing of Cook Strait is a massive challenge to long-distance swimmers because of the treacherous tides and changeable weather. Following the first unsuccessful attempts by R.G. Webster and Lily Copplestone in 1929, several other people tried but failed to conquer the strait. The first successful crossing was made by Barrie Devenport on 20 November 1962 and the first non-stop double crossing by Philip Rush on 13 March 1984.

The current record is held by Casey Glover, who swam the strait from north to south on 13 April 2008 in 4 hours 37 minutes. The youngest conqueror of Cook Strait is Aditya Raut, who was aged 11 when he performed the feat on 20 February 2005. The oldest is Toshio Ogawa, aged 60, on 3 March 2015. By March 2016, 85 individuals from 11 countries had made 95 successful crossings. Rush has swum the strait six times, and Meda McKenzie four times.

Image: Lynne Cox (Te Ara)