In at the deep end for Cook Strait challenge

At 73, former bishop Derek Eaton is the oldest swimmer in the team, but he is also one of the strongest and will be fulfilling a long-held ambition. Photo / Supplied

A team of swimmers aged 11 to 73 unite to tackle one of New Zealand’s toughest ocean swims and raise money for lifesavers

The Cook Strait separates New Zealand's two main islands, but in the next six weeks it will bring together a diverse group of Kiwis aiming to be the first mixed-relay team to swim the treacherous stretch of water.

The team comprises six swimmers and two reserves drawn from around the country. They range in age from 11 to 73 and in occupation from school pupil to accountant to retired Anglican bishop.

The team members are all competing in this year's State Ocean Swim Series. The relay organiser, Jeff Gibb of Wellington, said the impetus for the crossing was to raise money for Surf Life Saving New Zealand.

"We think the work they do is important, especially with the number of school pools being closed down," said 38-year-old Gibb, who works as a human resources adviser.

"We just think it's more and more important that surf life saving is recognised, because without it there would be a lot more deaths."

One of the many quirks of swimming Cook Strait is that it is hard to pinpoint an exact date on which a crossing is possible, because of the powerful tides.

The earliest the swim could take place is between February 26 and March 3. If the equally difficult weather rules that week out, the next possible time would be between March 12 and 17.

To have the crossing officially recognised, the team is swimming under England's Channel Swimming Association rules, which forbid wetsuits among other things.

Team member Richard Smith, of Auckland, said the rules set the standards for open-water relay swimming internationally.

"You have to swim an hour minimum at a time," he said. "We expect to be between eight and 10 hours [all up] in the water depending on the tide and the conditions. So out of the six of us, there will more than likely be three who spend two hours swimming at a time."

The team will be guided across by open-water swimming legend Philip Rush, who swam the strait eight times during his career, including two double crossings.

The ages and backgrounds of the team members vary widely, and so do their swimming abilities.

Smith said he swam competitively as a child, and has come back to the sport in adulthood.

"The longest ocean swim I've done would be the ocean series stuff, which is 3.3km," said the 44-year-old accountant.

Gibb said the idea came together after he spoke to Anna Marshall of Wellington, who swam Lake Taupo and attempted Cook Strait as part of an unsuccessful relay team.

"I was talking to her at the time and I was thinking, 'that's a really cool thing to do'," he says. "I thought one way of doing it would be to wrap a charity around it, and then we talked to Phil Rush and everything came together."

Marshall agreed to give it another crack, and Gibb was game despite lacking experience.

"I grew up in Central Otago, so I was never involved in surf life saving," he said. "It wasn't until my 30s that I decided to give it a go. So I did one of those State ocean swims. I think I did the 750m and came second-to-last. The winner was a 12-year-old girl."

One of the strongest swimmers in the team is the oldest, 73-year-old Derek Eaton, who spent 16 years as the Anglican bishop of Nelson. During his career, he also served in high-ranking church posts in North Africa and the Middle East.

He held national pool titles in the butterfly and the medley in the 1950s.

"I gave up swimming competitively around 1960 and never came back to it until 2009," he said. "Since then I've won my age group in the ocean swims around the country.

"I have to admit that when I was swimming in the 50s I always had a dream that it would be wonderful to swim the strait.

"But when I took up ocean swimming I thought it's just not really a possibility for a guy as long in the tooth as me.

"But to do it as a relay is really exciting."

Cook Strait is a formidable stretch of water, and while they are excited to be crossing it, Smith, Gibb and Eaton all feel some anxiety.

For Smith the concern is plain: "I don't want to meet a 12ft great white shark."

Eaton and Gibb were both concerned about acclimatising to the cold water, but Gibb was also mindful of the possibility of letting down his teammates.

"You're in there for an hour, and under the rules you can't come out any earlier," he said.

"I was on a ferry yesterday and it was quite windy and I was looking at the water and thinking, 'what have I done?'"

The full team, which also includes Krissten Smith, Jen Rose, Christina Harris and Loredana Unsworth, will meet in Akaroa this weekend to race in the La Grande, the latest State Ocean Swim Series event.

Its organiser, Scott Rice, says he is looking forward to seeing the team create a bit of history.

"Our series is all about giving it a go, and the relay team are a superb example of this.

"It's a fantastic cause."

Taking the plunge
Where: A 26km mixed-relay crossing of the Cook Strait.
When: Some time in the next six weeks, depending on tides and conditions.
Why: Team members are competing in this year's State Ocean Swim series and are raising money for Surf Life Saving NZ.

To learn more about the team and to donate, visit: www.straitacross.org.nz