Strait From San Francisco To Spain To Morocco

Swimming World Magazine carried a report on 17-year-old Stewart Goossens' successful crossing of the 14.4K Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco.

Stewart's effort was his way to support the Marine Mammal Center located north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Five Oceans of Lewis Gordon Pugh

Open water swimming adventurers like Lynne Cox and Lewis Gordon Pugh are very special people.

Lynne, an inductee in the International Swimming Hall of Fame has an incredible and well-known record of open water swimming success. Similarly, Pugh is another pioneer and great promoter of open water swimming.

Colorfully and uniquely, swims by Pugh can be found at here.

Pugh came up with the 5 Oceans concept - which is a bit different from the Oceans Seven concept.*

Meeting the criteria of 5 Oceans concept means one completes a long-distance swim in the five oceans of the world: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Southern (also known as the Antarctic) and Arctic Oceans.

Well-known for his 0°C water swims in the North Pole, Pugh also swam in the Atlantic Ocean (1992 English Channel, 1992), the Arctic Ocean (2003 North Cape in Norway), the Southern Ocean (2005 Deception Island in sub-Antarctica, 2005), the Indian Ocean (2006 Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa) and Pacific Ocean (2006 15K Manly Beach to the Sydney Opera House in Australia).

The "5 Oceans" concept is modeled on the "Seven Summits" concept where mountaineers climb the highest mountain on each of the 7 continents of the world. Lewis said, "There’s something magical about swimming in all five oceans of the world. Already nearly 100 mountaineers have done the Seven Summits, and it’ll be fascinating to see how many swimmers take up this, the ultimate of challenges."

* The Oceans Seven include (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 near Los Angeles, California, (6) the Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan, and (7) the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa.

Lasting Images from Beijing - Part 17

The gold medalist in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Beijing will be rightly heralded as the world's greatest open water swimmer.

Over time, both the male and female Olympic champions will be nominated for induction in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame where 191 renowned individuals are currently enshrined for open water swimming posterity.

As we look back on some of the individuals who made their mark in the open water swimming world, Montserrat Tresserras of Spain, an inductee in 1970, comes immediately to mind.

Montserrat was the first Spanish woman to swim the 8-mile Strait of Gibraltar (between Spain and Morocco) and the first Spaniard to swim the English Channel (from England to France in 1958). In 1961, Montserrat swam the English Channel again in the opposite direction (France to England) to become the first women to successfully cross the English Channel in both directions.

In 1969, she swam between Minorca and Majorca, two Spanish islands in the Mediterranean Sea, in 21 hours 10 minutes and the very cold 20-mile Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ireland, in 16 hours and 13 minutes.

To this day, Montserrat continues to serve on the Board of the Channel Swimming Association and acts as an official observer and adviser on many attempts across the English Channel. She also observes and assists swimmers who attempt crossing the Straits of Gibraltar.

We are hopeful the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim champions will give back to the sport as much as the illustrious and industrious Montserrat has over her storied career.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association