Your Cart28 year-old Darren Miller from Murrysville, Pennsylvania has set out to complete the epic quest of successfully swimming some of the World’s longest, and most dangerous channels; a challenge called The Ocean’s Seven Challenge. He will be attempting to swim the Ka’iwi channel (between Oahu and Molokai) this October and will be the third of the seven channels in his quest for the Ocean’s Seven. After Molokai, Darren plans on attempting the Cook Strait in March of 2013. Thus far he h as completed The English and the Catalina Channel swims. Miller is attempting the Ocean’s Seven Challenge as an effort to raise funds for a non-profit organization that he started along with Kathy Cartieri Mehl in December of 2009. The organizations goal is to raise funds to help families with infants that have cardiothoracic needs.
Ocean’s Seven Challenge
The Ocean’s Seven Challenge is the ultimate in marathon swimming, consisting of successfully swimming seven of the world’s most treacherous channels. The seven channels and their
distances are:
- The English Channel – 27 miles
- The Catalina Channel – 21 miles
- The Molokai Channel – 26 miles
- The Cook Strait – 14 miles
- The Irish Channel – 21 miles
- The Tsugaru Channel – 12 miles
- The Strait of Gibraltar – 9 miles
At first glance the distance of these swims may seem the most challenging part, but when you know some of the conditions the swimmers are facing the distances don’t seem so bad. The weather is a main factor, and in many places storms can create un-swimmable conditions as well as high winds and strong currents that can push swimmers off course, and make their journey that much tougher. Low water temperatures in some places can cause major problems, especially being in the water for such extended periods of time, and as if the weather wasn’t bad enough there are also certain channels which include jellyfish or man-o-war hazards as well as sharks, and other aggressive marine life.
