Ely Uemura

15-year-old Jessica Poplar, 50-year-old Sarah Poplar, and 57-year-old Ely Uemura after Sarah Poplar's successful 9 hour 14 minute Tsugaru Channel crossing on 7 August 2026

Ely Uemura is a 57-year-old Japanese observer and open water swimmer who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Open Water Swimming Highlights

She is certified as an IISA Official Observer L1 as of 1 March 2022.
She completed an Ice Mile on 11 September 2021 in Lake Lyndon, Canterbury, New Zealand in 4.60°C water and 11.30°C air, swimming 1.02 miles in 45 minutes 7 seconds, observed by Simon Olliver.
She was a support crew member for Sarah Poplar, a 50-year-old open water swimmer from Whangarei, New Zealand, who completed a 19.5 km crossing of the Tsugaru Channel from Aomori to Hokkaido under the escort of Captain Hashimoto and the support crew of Jessica Poplar and Ocean Navi observer Mika Tokairin. Poplar started at 6:36 pm on 6　August and finished at 3:50 pm on 7 August for a time of 9 hours 14 minutes 48 seconds.