Finishing the North Channel swim puts Rob Lea a few laps closer to completing the Oceans Seven, a marathon swimming challenge consisting of series of seven iconic swims around the world.
Although it’s not the longest of the seven swims, he said it’s probably the most challenging.
“So, I'm very glad to have it behind me. But I've also got the Molokai Channel coming up, and that one is a warm water swim, so it doesn't have that crux, but it has a lot of others,” Lea said on the Local News Hour Tuesday, Sept. 10.
“The seas between Molokai and Oahu can be very rough. It's also the longest one, 30 miles or maybe more. That one will probably take me 15 plus hours and that one does have sharks in it. They've also got Portuguese man o' war jellyfish and a lot of other factors. So, that one is going to be a really difficult swim as well," Lea added.
Ten minutes into the swim, he received his first jellyfish sting. An hour later he had two. The North Channel is filled with the world’s largest jellyfish, the lion's mane, which can span eight feet across with tentacles over 100 feet long. And he said the stings can pack a powerful punch.
”I saw a lot of jellyfish in the middle part of this swim. I was able to kind of get around them, or swim over them. And then it was the last two to three hours that I couldn't tell you how many times I got stung. I was swimming against the current at the end, which was super difficult and just demoralizing, as you're swimming hard and you're almost there, but it takes so long to get those last couple of miles, and so I just put my head down, and I didn't really worry about them,” Lea said.
Participants of the Oceans Seven are allowed to only wear a swimsuit, swim cap and goggles, exposing a lot more skin than if a wetsuit was worn.
Lea was able to swim for nearly ten hours by stopping every half hour for hydration and liquid feedings.
“That's partly just even for a mental break to have a little human interaction with somebody," he said. "But my feeds are pretty quick, so they just throw a water bottle, which is on the string to me, and I've got hydration in there, but I've also got calories just in the drink mixture. And so, most of my feeds are just a liquid feed, and I drink a water bottle an hour that's got about 300 to 350 calories. And then if I get a little bit hungry, I'll substitute a little bit of food in there. So, I think on this swim, I had two bananas as well.”
Unfortunately, he also drank a lot of sea water which he said played havoc with his body once he finished.
“My whole body when I get out is super swollen and just really worked. Also, just being in a horizontal position really messes with your body, your equilibrium, and getting out of the water into the boat, I had tons of cramps in my legs and stuff like that," he said. "My mouth, it feels funny, but it it's not really a problem during the swim, but after about a day or two, my whole mouth kind of sheds a layer of skin because of all this salt water.”
Lea said he prepares for swims by signing up and buying an airplane ticket. That commitment he says allows him to show up, get in the water and give it his best shot.
