Herman van der Westhuizen
Herman van der Westhuizen is a 57-year-old open water swimmer and ice swimmer from Stellenbosch, South Africa who is a member of the Madswimmers of South Africa. He achieved the Oceans Seven, the 24th person in history to do so.
Contents
Oceans Seven
He completed the 7 channels of the Oceans Seven in July 2023 at the age of 57:
- English Channel on 13 August 2012 in 11 hours 25 minutes
- North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland on 6 July 2017 in 12 hours 30 minutes
- Catalina Channel between Santa Catalina Island and Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California on 25 June 2019 in 12 hours 3 minutes
- Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan on 30 August 2019 in 10 hours 22 minutes
- Molokai Channel between Molokai Island and Oahu in Hawaii in August 2022 in 15 hours 4 minutes
- Cook Strait between North Island and South Island in New Zealand on 14 March 2023 in 8 hours 27 minutes
- Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco on 16 July 2023 in 3 hours 32 minutes
Open Water Swimming Career
- He completed his first Robben Island crossing in South Africa in 2009.
- He completed an English Channel crossing in 13 August 2012 in 11 hours 25 minutes
- He participated in the world's highest swim in December 2015 (The Big Swim) on Mt Tres Cruces in December 2015 at 5,909m (19,386 feet) in Argentina as part of the Madswimmers' Ojos Swim together with Jean Craven, Milton Brest, Evan Feldman, Chris Marthinusen, Robert Graaff, and Juandre Human. The Ojos swim is part 1 of 2 of the Hi/Low Swim Challenge: Ojos will be the highest swim and the Dead Sea from Jordan to Israel will be the lowest open water swim in the following year.
- He participated in the Dead Sea Swim between Jordan and Israel in November 2016.
- He competed in the 1000m freestyle at the 2017 Ice Swimming Aqua Sphere World Championships in Burghausen, Bavaria, Germany.
- On 9 July 2017, he completed a crossing of the North Channel in 12 hours 30 minutes.
- He participated in the 100 km The Great Shark Swim along the Agulhas Current in South Africa in December 2017. The team was stopped after 28.24 km and 9 hours 3 minutes due to stings by blue bottles.
- He finished 15th in the 1 km race on 1 January 2017 in the Ice Swimming Aqua Sphere World Championships in Burghausen, Germany.
- On 20 September 2018, he attempted a 19.5 km crossing of the Tsugaru Channel from Honshu to Hokkaido in northern Japan, but he abandoned the swim after 12 hours.
- On 25 June 2019, he completed a 32.3 km crossing of the Catalina Channel
- On 30 August 2019, he completed a 19.5 km crossing of the Tsugaru Channel from Honshu to Hokkaido in northern Japan along the Kodomari Route in 10 hours 22 minutes 37 seconds.
- On 16 August 2022, he completed a 42 km crossing of the Molokai Channel from Molokai to Oahu in 15 hours 4 minutes.
Madswimmers Honors
The Madswimmers Charity Swims is nominated for the 2015 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year by the World Open Water Swimming Association.
The Highest Swim
The Highest Swim
Madswimmers doing high-altitude swimming at 5909m (19,386 feet) in a frozen lake on Mt Tres Cruces, a volcano in the Andes Mountains along the Argentina - Chile border in South America with the water temperature between 0.5 - 2ºC (32.9ºF - 35.6ºC). Jean Craven, Herman van der Westhuizen and Chris Marthinusen completed the 5-minute neoprened wild swim while Evan Feldman and Milton Brest swam in wetsuits and Robert Graaff and Juandre Human were unable to partake in the final swim due to medical restraints after a 6-hour hike up the volcano and a laborious creating of the small area to swim through the 20 cm thick ice covering.
Dead Sea Swim
Participating open water swimmers in the 16 km group tandem swim called the Dead Sea Swim between Jordan and Israel across the Dead Sea on 15 November 2016 that took 7 hours 9 minutes included Udi Erell, Adina Faur, Kimberley Chambers, Abigail Thomson, Avishag Turek, Ori Sela, Oded Rahav, Juandre Human, Jean Craven, Evan Feldman, Ben Enosh, Doron Amosi, Munqeth Mehyar, Brooke Penney, Dov Litvinoff, Nick Papageorge, Samuel Moran, Luc Chetboun, Karon Marx, Neil Macaskill, Herman van der Westhuizen, Hylton Lokitch, Gita Osrin, Ram Barkai, Erez Amir, Yussuf Muhammad Ahmad Matari, Olfat Haider, Rachel Sharon Lane, Qusai Abdullah khalaf Al-louzi, Ahmed khalil ahmad murad, and Jackie Cobell. Members were from South Africa's Madswimmer group and the Cyprus Israel Relay Team.
Ice Swimming World Championships
He competed in the 1000m freestyle at the 2017 Ice Swimming Aqua Sphere World Championships in Burghausen, Bavaria, Germany.
The Great Shark Swim
He participated in the Great Shark Swim, a planned 100 km charity swim organised by Madswimmer in the Agulhas Current along the KwaZulu Natal Coast in South Africa. The team stopped after 28.24 km and 9 hours 3 minutes due to stings by blue bottles on 2 December 2017.
2017 World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men
He was named to the World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men in 2017 (alphabetized by last name) by the World Open Water Swimming Association:
1. Dr. Doron Amosi, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel
2. Antonio Argüelles Díaz-González, channel swimmer and endurance athlete from Mexico
3. Cyril Baldock, marathon/channel swimmer from Australia
4. Ram Barkai, administrator, event organizer and ice swimmer from South Africa
5. John Batchelder, butterflying marathon swimmer from USA
6. Nejib Belhedi, marathon/stage/boat pull swimmer from Tunisia
7. Alexander Brylin, channel ice swimmer from Russia
8. Luc Chetboun, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel
9. Salvatore Cimmino, amputee advocate and marathon/extreme swimmer from Italy
10. Jean Craven, marathon/extreme swimmer from South Africa
11. Ned Denison, IMSHOF administrator and marathon/ice swimmer from Ireland
12. Craig Dietz, disabled open water swimmer from USA
13. Ben Enosh, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel/USA
14. Udi Erell, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel
15. Stephen Junk, channel swimmer from Australia
16. Henri Kaarma, event organizer and ice swimmer from Estonia
17. Ger Kennedy, ice, underwater and extreme swimmer from Ireland
18. Craig Lenning, marathon/channel/ice swimmer from the USA
19. Neil Macaskill, extreme/cross-border swimmer from South Africa
20. Pádraig Mallon, escort pilot, event organizer and marathon/channel/ice swimmer from Ireland
21. Ingemar Patiño Macarine, channel/marathon swimmer from the Philippines
22. Andrew Malinak, administrator and cold water/marathon/channel swimmer from the USA
23. Chris Marthinusen, extreme/high-altitude swimmer from South Africa
24. Patrick McKnight, marathon/channel swimmer from the USA
25. Allan McLeland, Peak and Pond swimmer/climber from the USA
26. Darren Miller, channel swimmer and event director from the USA
27. Rohan More, marathon/channel swimmer from India
28. Gullupilli Narhari, extreme relay swimmer from India
29. Matías Ola, event organizer and ice/extreme swimmer from Argentina
30. Kieron Palframan, ice/extreme swimmer from South Africa
31. James Pittar, blind marathon/channel swimmer from Australia
32. Javier Mérida Prieto, disabled Triple Crown swimmer from Spain
33. Lewis Pugh OIG, ocean advocate and ice/extreme swimmer from the UK
34. Oded Rahav, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel
35. Stephen Redmond, channel/marathon swimmer from Ireland
36. Adrian Sarchet, marathon/channel swimmer from Guernsey
37. Ori Sela, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel
38. Dan Simonelli, coach/guide/observer and marathon/channel swimmer from the USA
39. Paramvir Singh, extreme relay swimmer from India
40. Albert Sobirov, ice swimmer from Russia
41. Petar Stoychev, marathon/channel/ice/Olympic swimmer from Bulgaria
42. Ryan Stramrood, ice/extreme swimmer from South Africa
43. Martin Strel, marathon/stage swimmer from Slovenia
44. Dr. Otto Thaning, channel/marathon swimmer from South Africa
45. Jacques Tuset, prison island swimmer from France
46. Toks Viviers, ice/extreme swimmer from South Africa
47. Adam Walker, coach, event organizer, and channel swimmer from England
48. Christof Wandratsch, event organizer and ice/marathon/channel/professional swimmer from Germany
49. Brenton Williams, event organizer and butterfly ocean swimmer from South Africa
50. Herman van der Westhuizen, extreme high-altitude swimmer from South Africa
External links
- 18 Years In The Making: Stephen Junk Achieves The Oceans Seven
- Kieron Palframan Achieves The Oceans Seven
- International Ice Swimming Association bio
- Twice As Nice Across The Molokai Channel
- Marathoning With Masyuki Moriya
- Marathoning With Masayuki Moriya
- 2017 World's 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men
- Facing Reverse Osmosis Across The Dead Sea
- Mad Swimmer
- 2015 World Open Water Swimming Offering Of The Year Nominees
- Swimming On Top Of The World's Highest Volcano
- 2015 WOWSA Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year Voting
- The Highest Open Water Swim In History
- Ice Swimming Aqua Sphere World Championships
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Big Bay Events
- Nico Manoussakis, Jessika Steyn Win Freedom Swim
- Open Water Swimming
- Daily News of Open Water Swimming
- International Ice Swimming Association
- Advantages Of Swimming On A Volcano
- Serving As A Second
- Pool Time At The Highest Swim In History
- The Big Swim At 5,909m Is Tomorrow
- Madswimmers Complete The Highest Swim In History
- Kim Swims In The Dead Sea
- EcoPeace Sees Swimmers' Global Support Of The Dead Sea
- Lowest Swim In History Completed Across The Dead Sea
- Explosive Growth Of Ice Swimming, 120 To Delve Deeply
- Tapering For An Ice Swimming
- Mad Mad + Wild + Speed = Charitable Fun
- The Great Shark Swim, The Fastest Ocean Swim In History?
- How High Can Madswimmer Go?
- Uncertainty In The Unknown
- Ibiza Swim And Bazaruto Swim By Madswimmer
- Great Shark Swim Stopped By Blue Bottles
- High-Altitude Swims Around The World
