Sandy Blewett
Sandra Blewett is an open water swimmer from New Zealand.
Open Water Swimming Highlights
- She completed a 32.3 km crossing of the Catalina Channel from the California mainland to Catalina Island on 7 September 1977 in 10 hours 58 minutes 20 seconds.
- She was the fifth person in history to cross the Foveaux Strait in New Zealand on 11 February 1988 from Bluff to Stewart Island in 12 hours 50 minutes.
- She was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 New Zealand Ultra-Marathon Swim Awards.
Foveaux Strait
Foveaux Strait (Māori: Te Ara a Kiwa) separates Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. The strait is a rough and often treacherous stretch of water. The strait is about 130 km long (from Ruapuke Island to Little Solander Island), and it widens (from 14 km at Ruapuke Island to 50 km at Te Waewae Bay) and deepens (from 20 to 120 m) from east to west.
Channel Swimming
Successful swimmers include:
1. John van Leeuwen, 7 February 1963 (Bluff to Stewart Island in 13:40)
2. Meda McKenzie, 20 March 1979 (Bluff to Stewart Island in 14:00)
3. Belinda Shields, 24 March 1984 (Bluff to Stewart Island in 9:53)
4. Michael Quinlivan, 13 February 1985 (Bluff to Stewart Island in 9:41)
5. Sandra Blewett, 11 February 1988 (Bluff to Stewart Island in 12:50)
6. Todd Utteridge, 15 February 1989 (Bluff to Stewart Island in 8:40)
7. Wayne Evans, 11 February 2013 (Stewart Island to Bluff in 9:20 with a wetsuit)
External links
- Foveaux Strait
- Swimmer Salutes Foveaux Strait Conqueror
- John van Leeuwen, Fueled By Female, Protected By Grease
- Marathon Swimming
- Open Water Swimming
- Swim Catalina
- That Moment Of Exhilaration...And Afterwards
- New Zealand Ultra Marathon Swim Awards
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- 2018 NZ Ultra Swim Awards
- NZ Ultra Swim Awards
- 2018 New Zealand Ultra-Marathon Swim Awards Night
