CAITLIN O'REILLY
Caitlin O’Reilly is a 19-year-old New Zealand swimmer who loves a challenge. Her 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.
So far Caitlin has completed five of the Oceans Seven swims, most recently Caitlin became the youngest female to complete the North Channel swim.
“I enjoy swimming because of both the adventure and the challenges. And I love ocean swimming because I get to be in the outdoors and travel to different beaches around New Zealand.“
In her teens, Caitlin O’Reilly of Waitoki has already achieved so much!
She is the youngest New Zealand ocean swimmer to complete the Triple Crown, which is swimming the Cook Strait, Lake Taupo and the Foveaux Strait.
Caitlin was only 12 when she swam the Cook Strait, making her the youngest female and youngest kiwi to do this.
She received a Legends Award for this swim in the New Zealand Ultra-Marathon Swim Awards in 2018.
Caitlin became the youngest female to complete the 40.2km Lake Taupo swim in 2019, which she completed in 13 hours and 26 minutes.
“It is the challenge that motivates me to keep going and I love having the opportunity to push myself to the limits.”
Caitlin also does some fantastic work in fundraising, having raised money through swimming in the yearly Westpac Chopper Challenges and a Plunket Swim Fundraiser.
Like us, Caitlin is passionate about preserving our oceans. She will be promoting positive ocean action in New Zealand through fundraising for Live Ocean next year.
“I am super excited about being part of the Zoggs team. I enjoy using the Zoggs products and can’t wait for a summer of using my favourite Zoggs goggles (predator)”
