More Info →Horowhenua pupil swims the strait

Description

And in the process, Karena became the youngest woman ever to swim the Cook Strait; a 12-year-old boy beat her to the youngest-person title.

Swimming between the North and South Islands has been something Karena has always wanted to do. She swam to Kapiti Island last year and intends to repeat that performance in a couple of weeks, but the 23km between the North and South have always captivated her.

She started training for the crossing last year, swimming 8000m a day at the Kohitere Training Centre and her school swimming pools. But all the training in the world could not have prepared her for the icy waters of the strait.

“It was freezing. I was in the water for eight-and-a-half hours and it was really cold."

And as if the cold were not enough, Karena crossed paths with a 2m shark, much to the amazement of her support crew members, who travel the strait regularly. "There weren't supposed to be any sharks in the strait. Luckily I didn't see it though. Mr Jamieson (Peter Jamieson is Karena's physical education teacher) saw it. He just said, 'stop', and I knew it was a shark. It was probably more frightened of us than we were of it."

One thing Karena was grateful for was the jellyfish — there weren't any. When she swam to Kapiti last year, there were, "heaps" of blue-bottles. Though she stopped and had some-thing to eat and hot drinks on the way, Karena didn't touch the boat, treading water all the time. Most people who have swum the strait stop every half hour for a rest, but she took only six breaks.

"It was too hard to tread water all the time."

When Karena started her swim (she swam from South to North), she didn't think she would make it because it was so cold. The water temperature varied between 15 and 19 degrees.

"About two miles before the end I wanted to give up, too. I was really sore, my arms were aching. But I could see the island, 80 I wasn't going to give in."

A lifetime ticket for the Cook Strait ferries and a certificate will be reminders of her feat. It's a good thing she has the lifetime ticket, too. Karena has decided never to swim the Cook Strait again.

Identification

Date

1989