Twenty-three hours across three Hawaiian channels made Ted Lomicka the first man to finish the Maui Nui swim

At 3.23 in the afternoon on Saturday 21 February, in rain, Ted Lomicka started swimming from Old Club Lanai, on one of the smaller Hawaiian islands. He finished at 3.10 the next afternoon at Shipwreck Beach, back on Lanai, without having stopped.

In between he had swum three channels in a row: the Auau, from Lanai to Maui; the Pailolo, overnight, from Maui to Molokai; and the Kalohi, from Molokai home to Lanai. His time was 23 hours and 47 minutes. The Hawaiian Channel Swimming Association reviewed and ratified the swim, and he became the first man to complete the Triple Maui Nui.

Lomicka, 57, is a healthcare executive from Franklin, Tennessee, a long way from any ocean. He trains in Tennessee, with coaches at Life Time Franklin and the Nashville Aquatic Club.

Night in the Pailolo Channel

The middle leg was the long one: 9 hours and 48 minutes, from 9.17 at night to 7.05 the next morning. Across the whole swim, The Daily News of Open Water Swimming reported, the surface chop was relentless and the cross-currents constant.

By his own account, the swim nearly ended there.

“At the lowest point of the swim, I considered stopping after two channels. My crew reminded me what finishing would mean.” — Ted Lomicka, in the account published by SwimSwam

His observer, Michelle Simmons, had a simpler argument. He recalled her shouting from the boat: “Hey, Ted, only a 10K to go. You do those all the time.”

On the last leg a young humpback whale swam with him on and off through the final miles. Steven Minaglia, the association’s president, who advised on the route, said Lomicka “managed to see all the beauty of those channels all at once - a rarity - and during whale season.”

How long is it?

The sources do not agree. The account published by SwimSwam gives 34 miles (54 km). The Daily News’s leg-by-leg figures add up to about 42.5 km (26 miles). SwimSwam measured the course Becca Mann swam in 2019 at 63.8 km (39.6 miles). What nobody disputes is the time, or the order of finishers.

Mann was 22 when she pioneered the swim in 20 hours 53 minutes. The idea was older: Harry Huffaker first tried it in 1989, aged 50, and was pulled out after 31 hours when the cross-currents on the last leg became too much. Lomicka dedicated his swim to Huffaker’s memory.

Built a channel at a time

Lomicka did not start in the ocean. He came to endurance sport through triathlon and has finished 35 Ironman races of 140.6 miles, including the world championship in Kona in 2016, and the Ultraman World Championship in 2019. Then came the long swims: 12.5 miles around Key West, three swims of 21 to 23 miles in Saint Lucia, and in 2023 the 28-mile Kaiwi Channel from Molokai to Oahu. Each was a step to the next.

Why this matters

Nobody needs to swim through a Hawaiian night. But swimming is one of the simplest ways to meet the weekly target. The NHS (the UK health service) recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week, and lists swimming among its vigorous examples, along with strengthening exercises on at least two days. Lomicka’s route there is the useful part: years of steady build-up, and a crew around him when it got hard.

How to start

If you are new to open water, begin in the pool, then go to a lifeguarded lake, lido or managed venue with a friend. Our guide to your first wild swim covers cold water, safety and where to go, and the adult swimming guide is the place to begin if you never learned. If you already swim, an organised 5 km event with safety kayaks is the next rung. Amy Appelhans Gubser’s 17 hours in open ocean shows where a long build can lead. Check with a GP (family doctor) first if you have not exercised for some time or have a medical condition.