Wednesday, July 29, 2009

James Pittar - Attempting The Oceans Seven

James Pittar, the incredible blind swimmer from Australia, is more than halfway towards the first completion of the Oceans Seven (to the best of our knowledge). To date, James has completed a crossing of the English Channel, the Catalina Channel in Southern California, the Cook Strait, the Strait of Gibraltar, around Manhattan Island and numerous other marathon swims.

A documentary of James' swim in New York City can be seen here (Swimming with Skyscrapers).

The Oceans Seven includes (1) the Irish Channel between Ireland and Scotland, (2) the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand, (3) the Molokai Channel between Oahu and Molokai Islands in Hawaii, (4) the English Channel between England and France, (5) the Catalina Channel in Southern California, (6) the Tsugaru Channel in the northern Pacific Ocean between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan, and (7) the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa.

He is currently planning his assaults on the Irish Channel, the Molokai Channel and the Tsugaru Channel which will be charity swims on behalf of the Fred Hollows Foundation, an organization whose vision was for a world where no one was needlessly blind.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

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