Latest news with #OceansSeven
CNN
30-04-2025
- CNN
American teenager Maya Merhige withstood thousands of jellyfish stings during a 14-hour swim across the Cook Strait
Maya Merhige eventually stopped counting her jellyfish stings, such was the frequency with which they were getting scorched against her skin. At this point, Merhige was already several hours into her 27-mile swim across the Cook Strait in New Zealand and had slowly become immune to the small, burning sensations that covered her body. By the end, even her face – her nose, ears and lips – had been peppered with them. 'Constantly, like 25 times a minute – over and over,' is how often the 17-year-old Californian estimates that she was being stung. That equates roughly to once every third stroke – an aggressive form of exposure therapy for someone who claims to be terrified of jellyfish. 'Even when I was getting in the water, I was already like: 'I'm so scared. I don't want to see jellyfish,'' adds Merhige. 'So the entire time I was just fighting myself mentally to kind of get over that fear.' Confronting her greatest fears is something that Merhige has done time and again while swimming in some of the world's most challenging and unforgiving waters. Crossing the Cook Strait, which separates New Zealand's North and South Islands, last month was another step towards her goal of becoming the youngest person to complete the Oceans Seven – a series of brutal open water swims around the globe. Merhige has now successfully traversed the Cook Strait, the Moloka'i Channel in Hawaii, the Catalina Channel off the coast of Los Angeles, and the English Channel between England and France – all before graduating from high school. Still on her to-do list are the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, and the Tsugaru Strait in Japan. 'I'm hoping to be the youngest, which means that I have to do them by January of 2028,' Merhige says. 'I am hoping to finish them all. I'm really excited for the ones I have left.' In line with Marathon Swimmers Federation guidelines, only swimsuits – not wetsuits – can be used by those undertaking solo, unassisted marathon swims in open water. Merhige is guided by a support boat and pauses to receive a feed from her crew every half an hour. The Cook Strait crossing, she says, was her hardest swim to date – which became clear the following day when she struggled to lift her arms above shoulder height. The physical toll of taking stroke after stroke for more than half a day was compounded by choppy seas and strong currents, meaning Merhige swam 27 miles instead of 13.7 and was in the water for more than 14 hours instead of the planned seven. But it was her mental resolve that was tested most of all, especially when the large wind turbines marking the end of the swim never appeared to be getting any closer. The best solution, Merhige thought, was to stop obsessing over the distance and just keep swimming. It's one of the reasons she prefers tackling her marathon swims at nighttime, unable to fret about how far she has to go or what sea creatures might be lurking in the ocean below. 'If I can't see them, I really just tell myself: out of sight, out of mind,' says Merhige – referring, of course, to those much-feared jellyfish. 'They're not there if you can't see them, so I just pretend it's not happening, which does help me shut my mind off a little bit.' Another perk to crossing the Cook Strait at night – which Merhige did for almost the entirety of the swim – was catching a glimpse of shooting stars and avoiding the heat of New Zealand's punishing midday sun. And no sun exposure means no risk of sunburn. That's useful, Merhige points out, if you have your high school prom in a few days' time and want to avoid arriving with a swimming cap tan across your forehead. As obstacles go, a poorly-timed tan line is a relatively minor one when it comes to swimming in some of the world's most dangerous waters. When swimming the length of Lake Tahoe in 2022, Merhige struggled so much that she started to get hallucinations – 'I thought that I had been kidnapped for part of it, thought I was swimming with human-sized stuffed animals,' she says – and had to negotiate sharks, seals, whales and dolphins during her Moloka'i Channel crossing the following year. But for all the many challenges she encounters during her swims, Merhige still insists that she is happier in the water than anywhere else. It is, she explains, a 'safe place' in which she sees herself as a visitor to an environment which isn't, and will never be, entirely hers. 'It's become this great relationship,' says Merhige. 'I love being in the water so much, and I'm definitely loving it more and more; I have much more respect for the ocean and for the water than I did when I started swimming. 'I've done so much mental gymnastics in the water that I can adapt myself to deal with whatever situation occurs. Even if I'm scared, I know I can get through that fear. That's what keeps me safe, and that's what makes me feel safe.' Merhige has now completed 10 marathon swims, which by definition measure at least 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) in length. With nonprofit Swim Across America, she has raised more than $130,000 for pediatric cancer research, a cause motivated by some of her close family friends who have been affected by the disease. The thought of those living with cancer is what motivates Merhige during some of her darkest, most grueling hours in the water. 'There are kids in the hospital, literally right now, who are going through chemotherapy and going through radiation, and if they can get through that, then I can keep swimming, and it's nothing,' she says. 'I'm just telling myself that over and over and thinking: 'This is bigger than me. There are people cheering me on, and there are people going through cancer that I'm doing this for' … I know that this is making a bigger impact outside of just me, and that's really important.' Merhige, too, has faced her own recent health challenges. In March 2023, she ruptured a benign tumor on her pancreas during a skiing crash, causing intense pain and requiring surgery. She was back in the water two weeks after the surgery, and then last year, two months after she was in and out of hospital for further treatment, Merhige completed her crossing of the English Channel. More surgery is on the horizon this summer, meaning another Oceans Seven swim isn't on the cards this year. That will have to wait until 2026, when Merhige hopes to complete two, maybe three, of the remaining swims during her first year at college. She's currently on a pre-med track and hopes to be at a school on the East Coast – the opposite side of the country to her hometown of Berkeley. 'I don't think any of my top schools are remotely near water,' says Merhige, 'but I'm going to find lakes, I'm going to find rivers. I'm going to make it work.' The water, Merhige adds, is the place where she feels 'the most myself,' and she has no intentions to wave goodbye to that part of her identity while at college. But one bonus of being on the East Coast? The jellyfish will be very, very far away.
NZ Herald
23-04-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
End finally in sight for swimmer's 38-year challenge
Not to mention avoiding schools of giant tuna hurtling through the strait. Yet Moss isn't concerned how long it's taken her to conquer all seven of the planet's most challenging open water swims – a feat only 34 people have achieved. 'I'll probably win the record for the longest time to complete the Oceans Seven,' Moss says. 'I did the English Channel when I was 17, and I'm doing this one at the age of 55. So I'm really proud of that.' One of the women she's called on for advice happens to be the youngest swimmer to complete the Oceans Seven challenge, Aucklander Caitlin O'Reilly – who was 20 when she accomplished it by crossing Hawaii's Molokai Channel in October last year. Moss and O'Reilly are friends who swap vital information about their big swims. 'I've known Caitlin for a long time, and she's absolutely incredible. We share the same coach in Philip Rush,' Moss says. 'I've been liaising with her and her mum, because I did some of the seven swims before her, and she did some before me. So I could ask them, 'How did you find it? Where did you stay? What did you use for seasickness?' 'This is a girl who swam Cook Strait at 12. But she's unassuming and so happy to help other swimmers. Our community is very close-knit, in the water and out, and we're very lucky to be part of it.' Another woman in Irish-born Moss' support crew is her 80-year-old mother, Philippa Gunn, who's been alongside her for most of the major ocean swims in her life, and will be in the boat keeping a close eye on her daughter in Japan. She also makes a mean leek and potato soup, which Moss eats during her cold water swims. 'Mum is very determined to be on the boat, and she's probably the best person to be there, because she has so much experience,' Moss says. 'She went with me on the Straits of Gibraltar last May [a 14km Oceans Seven swim] and was the feeder for all four swimmers doing it.' Moss, the CE of the recently formed Ministry for Regulation in Wellington, will be allowed three people on the boat across Tsugaru Strait. 'We have to have a family hui to decide who gets the other two slots,' she laughs. 'My dad's very clear he's not coming. He went on the English Channel swim with me in 1987 and swore never again because he got sick as a dog. He just doesn't travel well on boats.' Moss' four children, aged between 15 and 21, have all been on at least one crossing with her. Her husband is often there with her, but this time she has a brother-in-law, a former international water polo player who's keen to help. So what's kept Moss, the former boss of Oranga Tamariki and a staffer at the Public Service Commission, swimming marathon distances all this time? Advertisement Advertise with NZME. 'I think it's a sense of adventure,' says Moss, who's fundraised over $30,000 through her swims for the Kenzie's Gift charity, helping young people who've suffered severe loss and grief. 'In Hawaii I got stung by a box jellyfish and I nearly walked on water. I did a top to toe assessment of how I felt, then I thought, 'Oh my god this pain is excruciating. It was the worst I'd ever had'. But then you think there's lots of kids going through a hell of a lot worse, so just hang in there for another half an hour. 'So it's the community, it's the adventure, it's the sense of achievement, and being able to bring awareness to an important charity.' Moss has faced a string of challenges in the run-up to her final Oceans Seven swim. A chest infection has interrupted her in-water training, and simply getting permission to swim across the strait was a bit of an ordeal. 'It's really hard to get a slot for Japan – there are only eight slots available for international swimmers for the whole season,' Moss says. There are also the strict rules around the swim, which you can't do at night. The Japanese Coastguard insists swims be done between sunrise and sunset. 'You've got a 14-hour window,' Moss says. 'Which means it's very hard to swim with the tides, because they don't flow nine to five, Monday to Friday. So we go on a neap tide [a smaller difference between high and low tides]. 'The Japan swim is also very unusual because it's 20km from point to point, but you actually start the swim 10km south of the start because of an incredibly strong tidal push. I haven't done a swim like that, so it's something I have to get my head around.' And because the strait's tides are so strong, swimming fast is important. 'Cook Strait is similar – if you're really slow, you won't make it because the tide will turn and push you away,' Moss says. 'Phil just keeps telling me I need to swim bloody fast. In training, I do a little short warm up, then it's speed, speed, speed. I'm doing a lot in the pool because you get more speed doing reps. 'I did a couple of swims a few years ago that were very cold and I was very conservative with my body fat, so I probably ate a bit more cake. For this one, I want to drop 4-5kg and get the balance right between speed and warmth.' And then there's the wind. 'There's a lot of people who never get in the water in Tsugaru because it's too rough,' says Moss, who has a five-day window from July 3-7 to do the swim, or then reapply. Advertisement Advertise with NZME. Possible aquatic companions could also make it interesting. 'I found out there are large schools of bluefin tuna through there. I'm hoping maybe one of them will give me a lift,' she jokes. Then there's the language barrier, the remoteness in the north of Japan, and sparse accommodation. Moss will have a translator, who's worked with strait swimmers before. 'It's quite a technical swim and you don't want your safety compromised if you can't understand exactly what's going on,' she says. 'Success is not guaranteed. I would be deeply disappointed if I don't do it, because I'm not getting any younger. And getting myself to top physical condition another year older makes it that bit harder.' Moss saves up her annual leave for trips like this. She trains outside work hours, diving into the harbour at Oriental Parade or in a local pool at 6am, to get to work by 9am. 'I've got a lot quicker at getting changed,' she says. Open water swimming today enjoys significantly more popularity than it did when Moss began. 'Back in the day you couldn't find anybody to swim with. You'd enter a race and there would be seven of you,' she says. 'But it's trendy now days, which is amazing. 'It's very accessible, it's affordable – all you need is a swimsuit, a pair of goggles and a tow float. 'When Caitlin was a finalist in the sportswomen category of this year's Halberg Awards, I was delighted because she absolutely deserved it. But very often the dedication, skill, determination and athleticism that the sport requires hasn't been recognised.' Moss has a few 'triple crowns' to her name. She's swum the New Zealand triple – Cook Strait in 2001, Lake Taupō in 2021, and Foveaux Strait in 2022. And she achieved the Irish triple over 36 years – from a 16-year-old crossing Galway Bay to completing the North Channel in 2023. That same year she collected another crown, adding the Around Manhattan and Catalina Channel to her English Channel swim. So is there anything more to knock off? 'I'd like to get a couple of other triple crowns, to be honest,' she says. 'There's the Australian triple crown, then I need one more to get the 'Original triple crown', which is the Bristol Channel between England and Wales. 'And I'd like to do more of the lakes in Scotland and New Zealand. There's still plenty to do if I fancy it, if I can afford it, and if I can keep the body together. 'The swims might get shorter as I get older. But I would love to still be swimming when I can't walk. It's good for you in so many ways. Your mental health, because you have something to focus on, and you have to empty your mind. 'If you love something then just keep trying to do it. You'll have your ups and downs; you'll have your bad days and good days. You might not be as fast as you were at 17, but you can still achieve a lot.'
