The latest swimming challenge for heart attack survivor David Yudovin has made him the oldest person by 10 years to swim Cook Strait.
The 52-year-old American's heart stopped beating during a marathon swim near Ventura, California, in 1978, when he was 27.
He has gone on to rack up a list ofcrossing conquests, which include becoming the first and only person to swim from Santa Cruz Island to the California coast in 1983 and swimming the English Channel in 1996.
On Friday, he swam Cook Strait in nine hours and 38 minutes.
His swim makes him the oldest person to make the crossing. The previous oldest swimmer was 42.
"I'm very proud of it," Mr Yudovin said.
There were times during the crossing when he thought he would have to give up, and he suffered from jelly fish stings.
"When the wind came up, I thought if this gets any worse I'm not going to make it.
"Then I would hit cold points and it would take the air out of me."
Hypothermia was a real issue as it was extreme cold that caused his heart attack 25 years ago.
Having spent more than a year training for his latest marathon swim, Mr Yudovin and his wife, Beth, arrived in the Bay of Islands in November to gear up and moved down to Wellington this month.
"We rented a house in Wellington for three months. Three days later we got the weather window we were looking for and made the decision to go for it."
The four-strong support team was led by former endurance swimmer and Hall of Fame member Philip Rush.
Mr Yudovin will see a little of the country before heading back to the US to run his three seafood companies.
