Editing Cook Strait (section)

==Swimming==
[[File:Cook Strait Swim Track (1972).jpg|thumb|Track of a swimmer's path crossing Cook Strait in 1972]]

According to [[Māori mythology|oral tradition]], the first woman to swim Cook Strait was Hine Poupou. She swam from [[Kapiti Island]] to [[D'Urville Island (New Zealand)|d'Urville Island]] with the help of a dolphin.<ref>[http://www.batcompany.co.nz/history.html Polynesian History]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014021235/http://batcompany.co.nz/history.html |date=14 October 2008 }}.</ref> Other Māori accounts tell of at least one swimmer who crossed the strait in 1831. In modern times, the strait was swum by [[Barrie Devenport]] in 1962. [[Lynne Cox]] was the first woman to swim it, in 1975.<ref name=LynneCox>[https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/first-woman-swim-cook-strait First woman swims Cook Strait – 4 February 1975], ''[[New Zealand History Online]]'', Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Updated: 25 March 2021.</ref> The most prolific swimmer of the strait is [[Philip Rush]], who has crossed eight times, including two double crossings. Aditya Raut was the youngest swimmer at 11 years. Caitlin O'Reilly was the youngest female swimmer and youngest New Zealander at 12 years. Pam Dickson was the oldest swimmer at 55 years.<ref name=swim /> [[John Coutts (swimmer)|John Coutts]] was the first person to swim the strait in both directions.<ref name="HBT 2012">{{cite news |title=Swimming: Coutts thrived outside comfort zone |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503460&objectid=11059997 |access-date=12 December 2015 |work=[[Hawke's Bay Today]] |date=13 April 2012}}</ref> By 2010, 74 single crossings had been made by 65 individuals, and three double crossings had been made by two individuals (Philip Rush and [[Meda McKenzie]]). In March 2016, Marilyn Korzekwa became the first Canadian and oldest woman, at 58 years old, to swim the strait.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/78060797/canadian-psychiatrist-becomes-oldest-female-swimmer-to-cross-cook-strait |title= Canadian psychiatrist becomes oldest female swimmer to cross Cook Strait |author= Joel Maxwell |date= 19 March 2016 |work= The Dominion Post}}</ref>

Crossing times by swimmers are largely determined by the strong and sometimes unpredictable currents that operate in the strait.<ref name="swim">{{cite web |url=http://www.cookstraitswim.org.nz/history-and-facts.php |title=Cook Strait Swim |access-date=31 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208125301/http://www.cookstraitswim.org.nz/history-and-facts.php |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1980 the [[oceanographer]] [[Ron Heath]] published an analysis of currents in Cook Strait using the tracks of swimmers. This was from a time when detailed measurement of ocean currents was technologically difficult.<ref>Heath, R. A., 1980. Current measurements derived from trajectories of Cook Strait swimmers. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 14(2), pp.&nbsp;183–188.</ref>

In 1984 [[Philip Rush]] swam the strait both ways.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McMurran |first=Alistair |date=2012-01-09 |title=Swimming: Dominant ocean swimmer for a decade |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/other-sport/swimming-dominant-ocean-swimmer-decade |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Otago Daily Times Online News |language=en}}</ref> In 1984 [[Meda McKenzie]] became the first woman to swim the strait both ways.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scratched |date=2021-02-09 |title=Scratched: Meda McKenzie versus the Cook Strait |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/09-02-2021/scratched-meda-mckenzie-versus-the-cook-strait |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=The Spinoff |language=en}}</ref>