British swimmers Danny Hanlon, 40, and Bernard Stone, 60, were forced to abandon a record-attempt swim across New Zealand’s Cook Strait.
The duo set out on Sunday morning, aiming to make the swim in eight to nine hours as a two-man relay. But, about 4 km from the end, inclement weather forced them to give up.
Philip Rush, a swimmer who has made the crossing before and was on the support boat, told the Dominion Post, “There was a change in tide and 15-20 knots of wind which made the sea very rough. It was a great effort, but once again, Cook Strait has won.”
Oral tradition abounds with stories of New Zealand natives swimming across the strait, but the first modern swimmer to cross it was New Zealander Barrie Devenport in 1962. Since then, over 75 crossings have been made. The course is known as one of the most treacherous open water swims.
According to the Dominion Post, one in six swimmers encounter a shark when attempting to cross the strait, but Hanlon and Stone only came across dolphins in their attempt, and weather ended up being the duo’s ultimate obstacle.
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