Rohan More carves history by becoming 1st Asian as well as Indian to swim across Ocean Seven
New Zealand, February 12: Rohan More becomes 1st youngest Asian as well as 1st Indian to swim across the Ocean Seven. Also, Pune based Rohan More becomes only the ninth person in the world to complete it. Talking about his achievement, Rohan More said, "It is the greatest moment of my life as I swam across Cook Strait in New Zealand which was the seven and last in the Ocean Seven."
The Ocean's Seven marathon consists of seven long-distance open-water swims, which includes the North Channel, the Cook Strait, the Molokai Channel, the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, the Tsugaru Strait and the Strait of Gibraltar.The swimming marathon is widely considered equivalent to the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge.
He began swimming at about 9:30 a.m. from the North Island. For the first five hours, the water was calm and the temperature was around 19 degrees Celsius. As he progressed towards the South Island, the water temperature dropped by about four degrees Celsius, due to currents from the Antarctic water. He fought bravely against the cold water and strong Antarctic currents to complete the swim in eight hours 37 minutes.
"I really feel very proud and emotional about this thing because after swimming this challenge I became the first Indian ever in the history to complete this challenge and only ninth person in the world who has swam all the seven challenges in the Ocean Seven," Rohan added.
More completed his first marathon swim at the age of 11. He completed the Triple Crown almost twenty years later, in less than 11 months and continues to set and accomplish marathon goals.
More also completed six of the Oceans Seven swims between 2014 and 2016: English Channel (13 hours and 23 minutes), North Channel (12 hours and 43 minutes), Catalina Channel (10 hours and 17 minutes), Molokai Channel (17 hours and 28 minutes), Tsugaru Strait (10 hours and 37 minutes) and Gibraltar Strait (3 hours and 56 minutes).
He is a national figure and has received the Tenzing Norgay Award from the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The award, also known as the National Adventure Award, was presented by President Ram Nath Kovind.