18 YEARS OLD AND BREAKING MARATHON RECORDS

18 YEARS OLD AND BREAKING MARATHON RECORDS

My name is Caitlin O’Reilly and I am an ultra marathon swimmer and I am  currently studying to be a paramedic at AUT in Auckland. Born in New Zealand, I am 18 years old and first started competitive swimming at the age of nine. I have always enjoyed the sport and I have been involved in pool swimming, ultra marathon swimming and more recently Ice swimming.

 

In February of this year I completed two laps of Lake Taupo (40km each way). The 80km swim took me 28 hours, and I was the first person to complete the swim in over 35 years, and only the third person to do so.

 

 

Other Ultra distance swims (Over 20Km) I’ve completed include Cook Strait which I swam when I was eleven years old, Foveaux Strait and a one way Lake Taupo. These three swims are known as the New Zealand Triple Crown of Swimming. I am the youngest to achieve this feat having completed the Foveaux Strait when I was 16 in 2021.

As part of my training for cold water I also completed an “Ice swim” which is a 1000m swim in less than 5 degrees Celsius water last year on Lake Lyndon, Canterbury (June 2021).

 

 

My next goal is to complete the Ocean’s Seven which is a marathon swimming challenge consisting of seven channel swims totalling 198.2km It includes the North Channel, the Cook Strait, the Molokai Channel, the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, the Tsugaru Strait and the Strait of Gibraltar. I have been wanting to do this for a while but due to covid my plans were delayed. 

I train nine times a week, two hour sessions in the pool, plus gym and open water covering approximately 40 - 50kms in the water. Training is obviously a massive part of my life!

 

I am looking forward to being part of team Gu Energy !

https://www.instagram.com/caitlinoreilly04

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