Thousands of swimmers have tackled the arduous English Channel throughout history and many more have attempted the lesser known 14.1-kilometre channel between Lanai and Maui.
Cronulla Surf Lifesaving Club's Dr Andrew Davis completed a solo breaststroke crossing of Maui's Au'au Channel on September 16, taking nine hours, 26 minutes to complete the historic trek, with the swim eventually covering 24kms.
The 60-year-old Kurrunulla and Cronulla Sharks Swim Club member, who is a visiting medical officer at Kareena Private and St George Private hospital's, started his swim at Club Lanai at 6am and finished almost nine and a half hours later at Napili Bay on Maui, due to the strong currents.
"The current was so strong doing breaststroke that it blew me way past my planned finish at Black Rock. That's why I finished further north at Napili Bay," Davis said.
For years swimmers from around the world have swum freestyle across the channel including Dr Davis who completed it solo in six hours, 47 minutes in 2006. But with the help of Cronulla SLSC member Lorissa Smith, escort Randy Kinores, paddler Dennis Blevins and Bondi SLSC's Simon Watkin he did it the hard way.
"Because it's never been done, I thought it'd be pretty cool to be the first person to cross the ['Au'au] Channel solo breaststroke," Davis told The Maui News.
"Secondly, I have been doing a lot of training for the Australian Masters Games, which are held in Adelaide [in October]. I thought because I've done such a lot of training, I thought I could put it to good use and do a preliminary swim across the channel before I went in the competition."
Davis said he did a lot of his training alongside his Cronulla helper Smith's mother Wendy and her husband Daz at the Cronulla Beach Swim School.
"It was with their encouragement I went big on the training for Maui and I had done many training sessions, particularly on the weekend, where I'd swim for 10 hours, 25kms breaststroke," he said.
"My training also included regular unassisted ocean swims [with no boat or buddy swimmer] from Cronulla Beach to Bundeena and back."
It was also a charity swim that raised more than $10,000 for the Sydney Retreat, a private, not-for-profit residential alcohol and drug recovery program in Sydney set up by one of his colleagues.
"I thought it would be selfish if I was to do the swim just for me," Davis said.
Davis just celebrated his 60th birthday in August, moving him into the senior age division in competition.
Davis said he loved Maui and is no stranger to the channel, having competed in the annual Maui Channel Swim five times between 2005 to 2017 as a relay member for the Sydney Tattersalls Club B team. The Sydney Tattersalls elite team won the last of its 13 straight Maui Channel relay titles earlier this month.
"It's not just the swim, it's the whole experience," Davis said safely back at his Cronulla home.
