‘Molokini Mantas’ break record for fastest Maui-Molokini-Maui channel swim

On Saturday morning, a special pod of “Mantas” was sighted in the waters of Molokini, three miles off Maui’s southern coast. Dubbed the “Molokini Mantas,” the group of nine Hawaiʻi swimmers were en route back to Maui, and upon reaching the Maui shore, they had set a new record for the fastest channel swim from Maluaka to and around Molokini and back.

Embarking at approximately 5:57 a.m., the Mantas swam a total distance of 13,244 yards (7.525 miles). Five of the swimmers touched land at 3 hours and 45 minutes, with the whole group in at 3 hours and 51 minutes. The previous record, set in 2021, was 3 hours and 56 minutes.

The Hawaiian Channel Swimming Association will be making their time official, said Dr. Steve Minaglia, who is one of the board members of the association. Minaglia was also one of the nine swimmers that broke the record on Saturday.

The swimmers were Kevin Drake, Laura Lipp, Andrea Salmi, Steven Minaglia, Alaina Otterstrom, Samantha Larrazabal, Rosanne McDonald, Nicole Forelli, and Matt Knight. The oldest swimmer was 67 years old and the youngest was 25.

The Mantas were accompanied by a boat captained by Brent Pickering and crew members Sandy Drake and Mark Wussler. Throughout the entire swim, none of the swimmers touched or got on to the boat. Instead, crew members threw the swimmers hydration and nutrition during their ‘feedings.’

While the Maui-Molokini-Maui swim is not yet regarded as a certifiable swim with the Hawaiian Channel Swimming Association, Minaglia and others in the association are making the numbers pencil into the record books. For them, it is a way to replicate swims that are strictly prohibited by state law, such as between Kahoʻolawe and Lānaʻi (Kealaikahiki Channel) and between Maui and Kahoʻolawe (ʻAlalākeiki Channel).

Channel crossings from Kahoʻolawe to Maui have been completed before by several swimmers, notably Linda Kaiser and Mike Spalding in 2001, both of who swam the gamut of all Hawaiian channels, except for the audacious 115.8 km Kaʻieʻie Waho Channel that separates Oʻahu and Kauaʻi—the ninth channel that no person has crossed.

But the last Kahoʻolawe-Maui swim on record was in 2011, due to denied access to the island by the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission. Minaglia sees the Molokini-Maui swim as its appropriate replacement. For reference, Kaiser did the 7.5-mile Kahoʻolawe-Maui swim in 3-and-a-half hours.

“Something that I always wanted to do was start officially ratifying the Molokini swim because it is something that people do, and it’s very challenging,” said Minaglia. “It’s also the exact same distance as if you were to swim from ‘Little Beach’ to Kaʻaholawe, seven miles straight line.”

Minaglia spends day-to-day life as the Director of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at the Queen’s University Medical Group in Honolulu but has managed to do the Molokini-Maui swim four times, typically finishing past the four hour mark. Needless to say none came close to this latest attempt.

“It was really fantastic because the whole group beat the record,” said Minaglia. “To finish under the existing record by five minutes, it’s very cool. The currents weren’t really pushing or pulling us too much, which is why I think we broke the record, because we were just able to move faster.”

When asked about what it felt like for him to step out of the water, having beat the record, Minaglia said the training, struggle and triumph came to mind.

Channel swimming as a sport has ballooned in popularity over the past decade and a half. In 2005, only eight people had been recorded swimming between Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, and only one between Maui and Hawaiʻi Island. Since then, there’s been four crossing of Maui and Hawaiʻi Island as well as nearly 100 crossings of Molokaʻi and Oʻahu. Until 2008, there were about 200 documented crossings of the Hawaiian Islands. Since then, more than 500 crosses have been completed.

“It’s developing in its popularity, and people are testing their limits to try to see what’s possible,” said Minaglia.

Taking the sport to new heights, Minaglia has also circumnavigated the island of Oʻahu, (approx. 130 miles) carrying his own food and without boat assistance. Circumnavigation of Maui by swimmers has never been documented before, but that is expected to change this year, as Epic Swim announced what will likely be the first circumnavigation of the island (approx. 190 miles) by swimmers taking place from July 10 to Aug. 7, 2024.

For more information on Hawaiian Channel Swimming and results of channel swimmers, visit https://www.hawaiianchannelswim.org/results.