Many of Sid Salek's peers would struggle to walk 9.5km let alone swim the distance through choppy seas.
But that's exactly what the Mt Maunganui 75-year-old did when he took part in the Motiti to Mainland Swim Challenge.
He finished the swim despite difficult conditions and said he was pleased with
his time of 3 hrs 43mins - he had aimed to complete it in under four hours.
While the feat may seem amazing to some, it is nothing out of the ordinary for Salek who has a long history of competitive long-distance swimming.
Last year, he won six titles and set three records at the National Masters Swimming Championships.
He has broken 60 records since he first began competing in the Masters in 1982 and next week he is off to compete in the Cambridge long course meet as part of his build up to the World Masters Swimming Championships in San Francisco in August.
He was particularly happy with his time last Friday considering the difficult ocean conditions.
"It was a bit lumpy out there. I'm not fazed by lumpy water but it takes it out of you," he said.
Each of the competitors had a kayaker accompanying them for safety and to offer encouragement.
This proved beneficial for Salek who said he had trouble navigating in the overcast conditions.
"I can navigate when there is sun because you have it on one side of your face and you keep it there but, because it was overcast, I couldn't tell where I was bloody going."
He said he doesn't think too much when he is swimming - rather he counts his strokes so he can track his progress.
"I know that each stroke is about a metre so I count all my strokes in blocks of 100."
Salek, who was also a keen glider and has just taken up kayaking, joked that he still competed to keep the younger generations on their toes.
"I'm trying to raise the bar as high as I can. They've got to have some targets to beat," he said.
The first person home in the event was Dennis Toy in a time of 2 hours 45 minutes and he was full of praise for Salek.
"Sid's awesome. He's an inspiration to a lot of people, that's why we call him Super Sid."
