Haley Chasin Breaks Women’s Kaiwi Channel Open Water Record

On Tuesday, former University of Hawai’i swimmer Haley Chasin, 27, swam the Kaiwi Channel in 11 hours and 59 minutes to become the first woman and second person ever to break 12 hours across the 26 miles.

The Kaiwi Channel, also known as the Molokaʻi Channel, is the longest of the Oceans seven swims. Separating O’ahu and Moloka’i, the 26-mile waterway has a maximum depth of 2,300 feet and is nicknamed the “Channel of Bones”.

Chasin’s final time of 11 hours and 59 minutes makes her the 2nd fastest finisher ever, after Germany’s Andreas Waschburger, 37, swam 9 hours and 55 minutes last October.

She told a local news channel, Hawaii News Now, that despite being stung in the face by jellyfish, the hardest part of her swim was the fact that she was constantly throwing up.

“I think it might have been something that I ate. I had a full gallon of milk the night before, and I don’t think that helped a lot.”

Chasin also reportedly saw dolphins while she was racing, but she did not encounter any sharks which was a concern for her and her team.

One of her open water coaches Meredith Novack said “She fought throwing up. She fought feeling like quitting. She fought her arm bothering her. She fought mental demons. She fought the sun, the wind and waves”

Novack described Chasin’s strategy going into the swim, saying “there was a solid game plan. Do not go out too hard. Take the first half easy…The plan was to back half and she worked so hard the last 14 miles… Haley literally negative split this swim.”

Chasin, a San Diego native, swam the channel to raise money for Maui wildfire relief, and she is not done here. Her goal is to complete all seven swims in the Oceans seven before she turns 32.

She now has two of the seven swims under her belt, having completed the Catalina Channel in August of 2023 in 10 hours and 37 minutes. She already has her sights set on number three– the Cook Strait next April.

The Oceans Seven (Organized by Distance)

• The Kaiwi Channel: Between Moloka’i and O’ahu
  • 26 miles (42 km)
• The North Channel: Between Ireland and Scotland
  • 21.4 miles (34.5 km)
• English Channel: Between England and France
  • 20.5 miles (33km)
• Catalina Channel: Between Catalina Island and the California mainland
  • 20 miles (32.3 km)
• Cook Strait: Between the North and South Islands of New Zealand
  • 14 miles (22.5 km)
• Tsugaru Strait: Between Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan
  • 12.1 miles (19.5 km)
• Strait of Gibraltar: Between Spain and Morocco
  • 9 miles (14.4 km)

Chasin is also coached by Dan Simonelli in California, and she competed collegiately for the Rainbow Warriors at the University of Hawai’i from 2015 to 2019.