Tsugaru Strait Swim

I have travelled to Japan on four occasions in my attempt to swim the Tsugaru Strait between northern Honshu and Hokkaido Island. The course is 20 kilometres, however, the start of the course is 10 kilometres South of the Northernmost point, Tappi, which makes it a very tough 30 kilometre swim against a treacherous current running Northeast to Southwest.

Put simply, the objective is to gain as much height in the Strait before the current sweeps you downstream and away from Hokkaido. This channel is unique in that the current never stops running in that direction; it only eases off from time to time and is very difficult to predict. In most channels, if you stay in the water long enough and deal with the ebb and flow of the tides, you have a good chance of finishing; this is not the case in Japan.

1st visit

On the first attempt, 9th July 2018, I was accompanied by my coach, Vlad, and was fortunate enough to meet Matthias Ola from Argentina and his entourage. They were great people and epitomized the spirit of channel swimming around the world; we all immediately bonded in the face of this challenge.

Later we had the pleasure of meeting the German legend Andre Wiersig (now an Ocean 7 swimmer) and his team. They were the happiest and most inspirational crew and a pleasure to be around.

On this channel, you have two very narrow, small fishing boats accompanying you at all times along with an out rigged streamer dragging in the water, designed to help the swimmer maintain a direct course. Both Matthias and I start the swim in the dark and off the rocks near the fishing village of Kodomori.

It was dark and soon became very rough. My enduring memory of this swim was battling the current, which was sweeping the streamer under the boat from the port side to the starboard. The current constantly pushed me into the side of the boat, and many many times, I can remember seeing the propeller dangerously close. Eventually, Vlad and I agreed it was too dangerous to stay on the port side and came around to the starboard side, which meant that I was effectively chasing the boat for the rest of the day.

I found out about 6 hours later that Matthias had pulled out because of seasickness and the relentless current. I stayed in, and the weather deteriorated to the degree that the waves were tumbling me over and disorienting me.

Most of the time, the streamer was dragging 90 degrees from the boat, and I felt like I was swimming toward the side of the boat, constantly just to maintain a position. Eventually, I found a rhythm and was able to go into a kind of meditative state. However, the current continued to build, and after more than 13 hours and still 6 kilometres to go; I had to admit that I wasn’t going to see Hokkaido on this occasion.

2nd visit

I came back to Japan late August 2018 to try my luck again and this time I was accompanied by Daniel my son who is a merchant seafarer and in whom I trust 100%. We waited until the end of the window before the last night and mixed all of the foods and waited patiently on the Tappi dock for the boat to take us down to Komori to start the swim.

The captain and organisers told us at 10:00 PM that the swim was not going to go ahead because the currents were too bad and the weather was too dangerous to take the boat to sea. We had come a very long way and we're not easily deterred and so we kept pestering the captain and the organisers and eventually against all advice and starting at 10:00 AM we set off in very large seas.  

The captain said if I kept on swimming then he would get me to the other side and we struck a deal. I swam all day and at one stage as everybody was looking forward trying to see where we might land I started slowly to drift towards the back end of the boat.

I didn't realise it at the time but the only one watching me was Daniel and despite him yelling and trying to get my attention I was getting closer and closer to that large single propeller. Out of nowhere I felt a huge crack across my back of my head and when I looked up it was Daniel yelling that I was swimming into the prop. I shudder to think what would have happened had Daniel not been on a proper lookout.

The sun set over Hokkaido and while I knew I'd missed the southernmost point of that island I thought I was making way into and eastern part where I might land. Again after more than 13 hours and travelling some 52 kilometres the captain told Daniel to tell me that the swim was over. BULLSHIT Daniel said you tell him and it took the captain another hour to tell me that he was unauthorised to land at that part of the island. After some arguing I accepted my fate and climbed the ladder back onto the boat for a very long, rough trip home with Daniel by my side protecting me and keeping me warm.

In hindsight I don't think I could have completed that swim but I honestly think we should have been informed about where we can and can't finish.

3rd visit

Awesome after a lot of negotiating with the Tsugaru Strait Swim Association I was able to secure another slot and on the 7th of July I prepared for another swim this time supported by my beautiful wife Kylie.

Kylie has suffered terribly for the Ocean 7 and has been on the boats with me in often horrific conditions suffering seasickness, freezing cold and deprivation but always by my side and my best supporter.

We waited a week for the weather to break but the severe conditions in northern Japan would not let up and I didn't get a chance to even start on this occasion.

There were four swimmers preparing to swim on this tide and the two that started on the 1st slots did not finish for a number of reasons. Martin Webster and I were supposed to swim on the second slots but could not convince the captains and observers to start.

One of the most wonderful parts of international swimming is having the opportunity to meet like minded-people and we will always remember Martin and Cat Webster with whom we explored the rich Japanese culture of food and beer.

As an international beer conesouir , Martin navigated us around the micro breweries and beer halls of Tokyo.

4th visit

Through some mutual friends I had met Edie Hu, a remarkable American woman who lives in Hong Kong and had become the first woman swimmer to circumnavigate the island of Hong Kong.

Edie had invited me to come with her and her friends, and to accompany her on her swim across the Tsugaru Strait in early September 2019.

I was a little apprehensive because I'd never swam tandem, this means that both swimmers will swim side-by-side across the channel under some pretty strict conditions but always relying on each other not too go too slow or too fast.

I got to understand the channel a little better by the 4th visit and so it took some haggling and a lot of negotiations to get the captain to start at 9:00 PM. The rules around the swim seemed to constantly change and so we were happy that we were starting early enough before that current really kicked in on the next day.

Unfortunately only a few hours into this swim I was overcome by leg and feet cramps which I could possibly attribute to the very warm conditions and I was not prepared for. In any event I became a liability for Edie and decided that it was best that I get out of the water and encourage her to continue.

As soon as I got into the boat I went to sleep for a number of hours and felt completely wrecked. I still don't understand what happened to me on that swim but she continued on like a Trojan for many hours but eventually fell foul of the current they call The Dragons Tail.

THE TSUGARU CHANNEL SWIM HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SWIM CALENDAR