The Oceans 7 Swim

The Oceans 7 conquest is the goliath of long distance swims scattered right across the globe. The potentially deadly swims are, the irish channel, the Cook Strait, the Molokai Channel, the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, Tsugaru Strait and the strait of Gibraltar.Only one person to date has ever completed the challenge, and that person is an Irish man called Stephen Redmond.

 Step forward Adam Walker, a national account manager of Indesit. First up for Adam was the English Channel and then Gibraltar strait. Two of easier swims in the challenge, but next up was Hawaii’s Molokai straits. Despite being stung across the stomach by a Portuguese Man O’War, one of the sea’s most poisonous jellyfish. The 33-year-old’s lethal brush with death came towards the end of his mammoth 36-mile swim, which took him 17 hours and five minutes to complete. Vicious ocean currents meant he had to take an alternative route, adding 10 miles to the planned course. Adam, who lives in Nottingham, also braved numerous other jellyfish stings to his face and a six-foot tiger shark swimming underneath him. He said: “It was just torture. It is the closest I’ve ever been to giving up on a swim, but I just kept thinking keep going while you can still move. After four hours we had covered 10 miles and I was predicted an 11 hour total, which would have been a world record. After around eight hours it all went wrong. Because of extremely bad currents we could not get in at the traditional finish point. The Portuguese Man O’War then stung me and I was literally shouting in the water due to the pain. I had to pull the tentacle of my stomach and started to vomit continuously. My lower spine was numb due to the poison.   Next up ……… the Catalina challenge Adam, who trains at Peterborough Regional Fitness and Swimming Centre, will be swimming the 21-mile Catalina Channel on October 6, just 10 weeks after he completed his toughest challenge yet, the Molokai Straits. He became the first British person to swim the Molokai Straits and had to share the hazardous waters with deadly jellyfish and predatory Tiger sharks. Adam still has huge scars across his stomach from when he was stung by a Portuguese Man o’war. White Goods Manufacturer Indesit will again be sponsoring Adam who is raising money for the charity SportsAid. He raised more than £1,000 swimming the Molokai Straits and he hopes to top this total in October. Adam said: “It’s going to be very tough. The waves are really strong in the daytime so I will have to start the swim in the middle of the night. “It will be very dark and I won’t be able to see much around me. I’m expecting there to be sharks and jellyfish again.” Adam expects the swim to take 12 hours but it could take longer if the current is strong and he drifts off course. Ocean 7 Challenge rules also forbid the wearing of wetsuits so Adam will only be allowed to wear shorts and a hat. He added: “The currents can get quite rough so disorientation and seasickness will also be a problem. The water temperature can also drop to 15^o C which is about the same as the English Channel.” The remaining three swims in the Ocean 7 Challenge will be the Cook Strait in New Zealand, the Tsugaru Strait in Japan and the Irish Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland.   To sponsor Adam visit http://www.justgiving.com/catalinaswim   We’re looking to follow Adam on his super adventure, so please keep up to date with our blog as he swims a channel at a time.