Te Moana-o-Raukawa / COOK STRAIT
FREEDOM OF THE FERRIES
The chance to triumph over this unpredictable stretch of sea remains one of the few real “Everest Challenges” left on the planet. . That’s why Interislander has acknowledged these outstanding swimmers with a lifetime of free crossings.
APPLYING FOR FREEDOM OF THE FERRIES
If you have successfully crossed the Cook Strait apply for your Freedom of the Ferries membership by contacting marketing@interislander.co.nz . Once your successful swim has been verified you will be sent your lifetime membership card.
Recognised Swims
* ratified by NZOWSA
| # | Swimmer | Country | Date | Duration | Route |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Devonport | New Zealand | 20 November 1962 | 11:20:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 2 | Keith Hancox | New Zealand | 7 February 1964 | 09:34:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 3 | Perry Cameron | New Zealand | 12 January 1972 | 09:36:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 4 | Lynne Cox | United States of America | 4 February 1975 | 12:07:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 5 | John Coutts | New Zealand | 13 February 1977 | 09:25:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 6 | Meda McKenzie | New Zealand | 3 February 1978 | 12:07:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 7 | Meda McKenzie | New Zealand | 17 February 1978 | 11:23:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 8 | John Coutts | New Zealand | 18 February 1978 | 06:46:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 9 | Chris Hurdley | New Zealand | 24 December 1978 | 09:04:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 10 | Alan Christie | New Zealand | 24 December 1978 | 09:05:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 11 | Patrick Benson | New Zealand | 24 February 1979 | 10:18:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 12 | Philip Rush | New Zealand | 24 February 1980 | 08:56:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 13 | Mohammad El-Meseery | Egypt | 24 February 1980 | 09:12:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 14 | Rhonda Smidt | New Zealand | 10 March 1980 | 08:56:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 15 | Belinda Shields | New Zealand | 24 March 1980 | 08:32:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 16 | Carolyn Wordsworth | New Zealand | 8 April 1980 | 07:15:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 17 | John Koorey | Australia | 1 February 1981 | 05:37:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 18 | Kristine Carr | New Zealand | 14 February 1981 | 07:54:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 19 | Michael Quinlivan | New Zealand | 28 February 1981 | 07:58:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 20 | Elizabeth Horner | New Zealand | 14 March 1981 | 07:22:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 22 | Alan Vincent | New Zealand | 30 March 1981 | 08:21:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 21 | Elizabeth Horner | New Zealand | 10 May 1981 | 11:33:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 23 | Sheryl McLay | New Zealand | 17 January 1982 | 06:59:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 24 | Karen Bisley | New Zealand | 14 February 1982 | 06:46:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 25 | Wayne Jack | New Zealand | 21 February 1982 | 10:02:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 26 | Philip Rush | New Zealand | 13 March 1984 | 07:51:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 27 | Philip Rush | New Zealand | 13 March 1984 | 08:25:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 28 | Sandra Blewett | New Zealand | 26 March 1984 | 13:30:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 29 | Meda McKenzie | New Zealand | 26 March 1984 | 11:27:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 30 | Meda McKenzie | New Zealand | 26 March 1984 | 11:39:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 31 | Scott Barry | New Zealand | 29 March 1985 | 07:51:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 32 | Karen Bisley | New Zealand | 29 March 1985 | 11:11:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 33 | Donna Bouzaid | New Zealand | 1 May 1985 | 08:15:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 34 | Denise Anderson | New Zealand | 20 January 1986 | 05:04:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 35 | John Koorey | Australia | 18 February 1986 | 06:59:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 36 | Helen Barrett | New Zealand | 30 March 1986 | 06:34:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 37 | Ingrid Greenslade | New Zealand | 25 February 1987 | 07:18:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 38 | Jeffrey Reid | New Zealand | 23 March 1987 | 07:10:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 39 | Philip Rush | New Zealand | 23 March 1987 | 08:27:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 40 | Philip Rush | New Zealand | 9 February 1988 | 09:05:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 41 | Philip Rush | New Zealand | 9 February 1988 | 09:32:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 42 | Richard Davey | Great Britain | 12 February 1988 | 07:17:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 43 | Karena Doig | New Zealand | 18 February 1989 | 08:31:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 44 | Myra Williamson | New Zealand | 5 February 1994 | 08:01:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 45 | Taranath Narayan Shenov | India | 25 March 1996 | 07:46:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 46 | Jo Kane | New Zealand | 26 March 1996 | 10:52:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 47 | Rupali Romdas Repale | India | 9 March 1998 | 19:44:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 48 | Thomas Pearson | New Zealand | 8 February 1999 | 06:50:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 49 | Tammy Van Wisse | Australia | 10 March 1999 | 06:49:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 50 | Gráinne Moss | Ireland | 6 March 2001 | 12:25:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 51 | Kate Johns | New Zealand | 16 March 2001 | 07:06:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 52 | Yvonne Merrill | Australia | 17 March 2001 | 11:05:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 53 | Chukraboty Chowdhury Bula | India | 25 March 2003 | 09:04:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 54 | Jeremy Gray | New Zealand | 11 April 2003 | 07:25:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 55 | David Yudovin | United States of America | 16 January 2004 | 09:38:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 56 | James Pittar | Australia | 5 March 2004 | 08:31:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 57 | Chris Hains | New Zealand | 15 March 2004 | 07:24:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 58 | John Gatfield | New Zealand | 25 March 2004 | 08:08:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 59 | Aditya Raut | India | 20 February 2005 | 09:09:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 60 | Cara Sibtsen | New Zealand | 4 March 2005 | 05:48:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 61 | Tania Hockings | New Zealand | 4 March 2005 | 05:48:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 62 | Robert Binney | New Zealand | 10 February 2006 | 07:11:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 63 | Penny Palfrey | Australia | 5 April 2006 | 08:26:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 64 | Scott Coleman | United States of America | 8 February 2007 | 10:27:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 65 | Jei Zhang | China | 25 February 2007 | 08:03:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 66 | Dan Kennedy | New Zealand | 10 March 2007 | 11:00:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 67 | Hana Wolzak | New Zealand | 9 April 2007 | 08:44:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 68 | Stephanie Bennington | New Zealand | 22 April 2007 | 08:10:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 69 | Forrest Nelson | United States of America | 31 January 2008 | 11:56:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 70 | Casey Glover | New Zealand | 13 April 2008 | 04:37:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 71 | Susan Freeland | New Zealand | 14 April 2008 | 11:09:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 72 | Andrew Rowan | New Zealand | 18 February 2009 | 07:29:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 73 | Pam Dickson | New Zealand | 20 March 2009 | 09:23:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 74 | Peter Cook | New Zealand | 3 April 2009 | 08:52:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 75 | Michelle Macy | United States of America | 3 March 2010 | 08:02:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 76 | Stephen Junk | Australia | 8 March 2010 | 08:08:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 77 | Emily Morris | Great Britain | 9 March 2010 | 09:58:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 78 | Andrea O'Fee | New Zealand | 24 February 2011 | 07:08:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 79 | Pieter Anderica Jongeneel Christian | Spain | 1 March 2011 | 08:49:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 80 | Emma Aitken | New Zealand | 12 April 2011 | 09:31:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 81 | Tom Hecker | United States of America | 17 January 2012 | 10:36:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 82 | Stephen Redmond | Ireland | 17 February 2012 | 12:19:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 83 | Kimberley Chambers | New Zealand | 5 March 2012 | 08:26:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 84 | Jason Coombe | New Zealand | 18 February 2013 | 10:32:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 85 | Mark Krynen | New Zealand | 19 February 2013 | 12:32:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 86 | Darren Miller | United States of America | 21 March 2013 | 10:42:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 87 | Craig Lenning | United States of America | 21 March 2013 | 10:52:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 89 | Dan Abel | New Zealand | 22 March 2013 | 06:15:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 88 | Anna-Carin Nordin | Sweden | 8 April 2013 | 08:18:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 90 | Phillipa Wrenn | New Zealand | 10 December 2013 | 08:42:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 91 | Simon Olliver | New Zealand | 11 March 2014 | 08:36:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 92 | Adam Walker | Great Britain | 22 April 2014 | 08:36:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 93 | Anna Plunkett | New Zealand | 16 December 2014 | 07:43:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 94 | Toshio Ogawa | Japan | 3 March 2015 | 11:51:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 95 | Patti Bauernfeind | United States of America | 3 February 2016 | 08:09:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 96 | Marilyn Korzekwa | Canada | 18 March 2016 | 11:34:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 97 | Tim Robinson | Great Britain | 16 April 2016 | 09:42:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 98 | Steven Kennedy | New Zealand | 23 January 2017 | 08:45:32 | North Island to South Island |
| 99 | Zoltan Boros | Hungary | 23 January 2017 | 08:45:32 | North Island to South Island |
| 100 | Marty Filipowski | Australia | 19 February 2017 | 09:06:14 | North Island to South Island |
| 101 | Kevin Cassidy | Australia | 20 February 2017 | 09:07:34 | South Island to North Island |
| 102 | Caitlin O'Reilly | New Zealand | 24 February 2017 | 07:19:56 | North Island to South Island |
| 103 | James Barber | United States of America | 10 March 2017 | 06:27:41 | North Island to South Island |
| 104 | Antonio Argüelles | Mexico | 19 March 2017 | 11:22:17 | North Island to South Island |
| 105 | Chloe Harris | Great Britain | 23 March 2017 | 07:17:24 | North Island to South Island |
| 106 | Attila Mányoki | Hungary | 22 April 2017 | 06:57:49 | South Island to North Island |
| 107 | Ion Lazarenco Tiron | Moldova | 27 January 2018 | 11:06:59 | North Island to South Island |
| 108 | Paul Feltoe | New Zealand | 8 February 2018 | 09:04:11 | North Island to South Island |
| 109 | Julie Isbill | Australia | 9 February 2018 | 08:43:10 | North Island to South Island |
| 110 | Rohan More | India | 9 February 2018 | 08:37:54 | North Island to South Island |
| 111 | Royce Evans | New Zealand | 11 February 2018 | 06:13:48 | South Island to North Island |
| 112 | Anthony McCarley | United States of America | 24 February 2018 | 11:23:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 113 | Abhejali Bernardová | Czech Republic | 24 February 2018 | 13:09:48 | North Island to South Island |
| 114 | Steven Walker | United States of America | 11 March 2018 | 12:17:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 115 | Cameron Bellamy | South Africa | 11 March 2018 | 12:44:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 116 | Lynton Mortensen | Australia | 14 March 2018 | 14:14:37 | North Island to South Island |
| 117 | Breanna Ward | New Zealand | 1 December 2018 | 07:26:10 | North Island to South Island |
| 118 | Thomas Penbroke | Australia | 14 December 2018 | 06:57:34 | North Island to South Island |
| 119 | Kieron Palframan | South Africa | 29 January 2019 | 08:13:02 | North Island to South Island |
| 120 | Jonathan Ridler | New Zealand | 15 February 2019 | 06:22:01 | North Island to South Island |
| 121 | Samuel Percy Muir-James | New Zealand | 3 March 2019 | 09:14:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 122 | Sarah Thomas | United States of America | 15 March 2019 | 14:09:11 | North Island to South Island |
| 123 | Elizabeth Fry | United States of America | 30 March 2019 | 09:32:01 | North Island to South Island |
| 124 | Nora Toledano Cadena | Mexico | 30 March 2019 | 09:32:22 | North Island to South Island |
| 125 | Mariel Hawley Dávila | Mexico | 30 March 2019 | 11:44:21 | North Island to South Island |
| 126 | André Wiersie | Germany | 20 May 2019 | 08:32:53 | South Island to North Island |
| 127 | Jonathan Ratcliffe | Great Britain | 9 December 2019 | 11:15:27 | North Island to South Island |
| 128 | Dean Summers | Australia | 9 December 2019 | 13:25:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 129 | Jorge Villanueva | Spain | 20 January 2020 | 09:03:44 | North Island to South Island |
| 130 | Adrian Sarchet | Guernsey | 1 March 2020 | 10:45:48 | North Island to South Island |
| 131 | Brett Richardson | New Zealand | 24 November 2020 | 10:20:32 | North Island to South Island |
| 132 | Raewyn Winsley | New Zealand | 23 March 2021 | 10:18:33 | North Island to South Island |
| 133 | Sarah Poplar | Great Britain | 23 March 2021 | 09:45:36 | South Island to North Island |
| 134 | Rebecca Hollingsworth | New Zealand | 25 March 2021 | 11:39:45 | North Island to South Island |
| 136 | Susan Sherwen | New Zealand | 4 April 2021 | 09:56:37 | North Island to South Island |
| 135 | Fraser Dunbar | New Zealand | 6 April 2021 | 09:46:03 | North Island to South Island |
| 137 | Liana Smith | New Zealand | 20 May 2021 | 06:59:24 | North Island to South Island |
| 138 | Corrina Connor | Great Britain | 13 December 2021 | 09:15:04 | North Island to South Island |
| 139 | Nicholas Shanks* | New Zealand | 15 February 2022 | 09:59:39 | North Island to South Island |
| 140 | Nick Hobson | Great Britain | 25 February 2022 | 10:36:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 141 | Eliza Cummings | United States of America | 10 March 2022 | 07:15:26 | North Island to South Island |
| 142 | Omar Vaquero Martinez | Mexico | 10 March 2022 | 07:54:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 143 | Zach Margolis | United States of America | 15 December 2022 | 07:06:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 144 | Mark Lenaarts | New Zealand | 15 December 2022 | 07:14:58 | North Island to South Island |
| 145 | John Hancock | New Zealand | 30 January 2023 | 09:17:45 | North Island to South Island |
| 146 | Alessandra Rossi Cima* | Brazil | 31 January 2023 | 10:58:02 | South Island to North Island |
| 147 | Joe Zemaitis* | United States of America | 18 February 2023 | 09:01:39 | South Island to North Island |
| 147 | John Zemaitis* | United States of America | 18 February 2023 | 09:01:39 | South Island to North Island |
| 149 | Callum Eade* | New Zealand | 1 March 2023 | 06:41:05 | South Island to North Island |
| 150 | Nathalie Pohl | Germany | 1 March 2023 | 06:33:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 151 | Bárbara Hernández Huerta | Chile | 1 March 2023 | 08:16:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 152 | Prabhat Koli | India | 1 March 2023 | 08:41:05 | South Island to North Island |
| 153 | Andrew Donaldson* | Great Britain | 7 March 2023 | 04:33:50 | South Island to North Island |
| 154 | Herman van der Westhuizen* | South Africa | 14 March 2023 | 08:27:14 | South Island to North Island |
| 155 | Dina Levačić | Croatia | 14 March 2023 | 11:01:43 | North Island to South Island |
| 156 | Marcia Cleveland | United States of America | 14 March 2023 | 11:54:01 | North Island to South Island |
| 157 | Glyn Eason | New Zealand | 16 April 2023 | 07:15:07 | North Island to South Island |
| 158 | Loren King | Canada | 16 April 2023 | 07:33:37 | North Island to South Island |
| 159 | Greg Johnson* | Great Britain | 22 November 2023 | 08:07:30 | South Island to North Island |
| 160 | Victor Pineiro* | Argentina | 6 December 2023 | 10:12:59 | South Island to North Island |
| 161 | John Batchelder | United States of America | 8 December 2023 | 07:00:00 | North Island to South Island |
| 162 | Mathukuri Tulasi Chaitanya* | India | 19 December 2023 | 10:57:42 | South Island to North Island |
| 163 | Anshuman Jhingran* | India | 18 January 2024 | 06:58:11 | South Island to North Island |
| 164 | Jamie Mackay* | Great Britain | 25 January 2024 | 07:00:47 | South Island to North Island |
| 165 | Robert Woodhouse* | Australia | 25 January 2024 | 07:00:46 | South Island to North Island |
| 166 | William Smith* | Great Britain | 26 January 2024 | 08:45:33 | South Island to North Island |
| 167 | Paul Leonard* | Great Britain | 26 January 2024 | 08:45:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 168 | Joanne Norman* | Australia | 1 February 2024 | 08:03:56 | South Island to North Island |
| 169 | Mark Sowerby* | Australia | 1 February 2024 | 08:03:57 | South Island to North Island |
| 170 | Bengisu Avci* | Turkey | 13 February 2024 | 10:40:52 | South Island to North Island |
| 171 | Toni Enderli* | South Africa | 18 February 2024 | 10:48:05 | South Island to North Island |
| 172 | Suwei Chen | China | 21 February 2024 | 09:47:22 | South Island to North Island |
| 173 | David Edgar* | New Zealand | 22 February 2024 | 08:47:44 | South Island to North Island |
| 174 | Ryan Utsumi* | United States of America | 6 March 2024 | 07:22:14 | South Island to North Island |
| 175 | Petar Stoychev* | Bulgaria | 14 March 2024 | 06:51:12 | South Island to North Island |
| 176 | Robert Lea* | United States of America | 17 March 2024 | 08:07:26 | South Island to North Island |
| 177 | Paul Georgescu | Romania | 17 March 2024 | 09:02:14 | North Island to South Island |
| 178 | Andrey Bozhko | Russia | 17 March 2024 | 09:17:37 | North Island to South Island |
| 179 | Aysu Türkoğlu* | Turkey | 21 March 2024 | 07:21:04 | South Island to North Island |
| 180 | Murat Öz* | Turkey | 23 March 2024 | 09:52:42 | South Island to North Island |
| 181 | Cynthia Aguilar Valdéz | Mexico | 2 April 2024 | 08:28:12 | North Island to South Island |
| 182 | Kamil Resa Alsaran* | Turkey | 2 April 2024 | 12:34:13 | South Island to North Island |
| 183 | Sayani Das | India | 2 April 2024 | 11:47:55 | North Island to South Island |
| 184 | Tsanko Tsankov* | Bulgaria | 7 April 2024 | 06:23:28 | South Island to North Island |
| 185 | Lauren Lesyna | United States of America | 16 April 2024 | 10:42:03 | South Island to North Island |
| 186 | Michael Payne* | Australia | 21 December 2024 | 08:04:01 | South Island to North Island |
| 187 | Eduardo Collazos Valle* | Peru | 25 January 2025 | 09:33:17 | South Island to North Island |
| 188 | Colin Hill | Great Britain | 26 January 2025 | 08:28:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 189 | Kerianne Brownlie* | United States of America | 6 February 2025 | 08:43:00 | South Island to North Island |
| 190 | Craig Clarke* | Australia | 14 February 2025 | 11:50:11 | North Island to South Island |
| 191 | Boguslaw Ogrodnik* | Poland | 17 February 2025 | 12:18:56 | South Island to North Island |
| 192 | Peter Hugh | Great Britain | 22 February 2025 | 08:33:59 | North Island to South Island |
| 193 | Ken Mignosa* | United States of America | 22 February 2025 | 10:42:23 | South Island to North Island |
| 194 | Edie Hu* | United States of America | 27 February 2025 | 09:24:52 | South Island to North Island |
| 195 | Emre Erdogan* | Turkey | 7 March 2025 | 06:08:24 | South Island to North Island |
| 196 | Elizabeth Almond* | United States of America | 10 March 2025 | 07:26:11 | South Island to North Island |
| 197 | Karen Ennis* | Great Britain | 10 March 2025 | 08:33:20 | South Island to North Island |
| 198 | Maya Merhige* | United States of America | 14 March 2025 | 14:08:36 | South Island to North Island |
| 199 | Jamie Lomelin* | Mexico | 25 March 2025 | 07:30:35 | South Island to North Island |
| 200 | Stève Stievenart* | France | 25 March 2025 | 08:18:54 | South Island to North Island |
| 201 | Andreas Waschburger | Germany | 25 March 2025 | 05:13:57 | South Island to North Island |
| 202 | Carsten Bernhardt | Germany | 25 March 2025 | 09:49:31 | South Island to North Island |
| 203 | Joel Matos Ortiz* | Puerto Rico | 26 March 2025 | 07:39:33 | South Island to North Island |
| 204 | Graco Morian Luna* | Mexico | 26 March 2025 | 07:39:33 | South Island to North Island |
| 205 | Daniel Vivero* | Costa Rica | 10 April 2025 | 08:36:16 | South Island to North Island |
| 207 | Josef Köberl* | Austria | 24 April 2025 | 08:43:36 | South Island to North Island |