Napier man Jeff Reid was only a kilometre away from the finish when his Cook Strait swim on Friday had to be called off by the support crew due to conditions. Photo / Supplied
Napier man Jeff Reid was only a kilometre away from the finish when his Cook Strait swim on Friday had to be called off by the support crew due to conditions. Photo / Supplied
Pushing through the dark in near total sensory deprivation, Jeff Reid had no idea how close he was to a record when his Cook Strait swim was cut short.
On Friday the 50-year-old from Napier was thwarted by dangerous conditions one kilometre from earning the record for the longest timebetween two crossings.
He first made the crossing 36 years ago when he was 14 but he has said he wants to see if he can do it again.
The Cook Strait is the notoriously dangerous body of water, 22 kilometres wide at the narrowest point, between the North and South Islands.
Reid's 11-and-a half-hour attempt spanning 33 kilometres narrowly missed his goal when rough conditions had him stuck in place for an hour one kilometre offshore.
In the last 10 minutes the tides had pushed him back 300 metres before Reid's support crew told him they had to end the attempt due to rough conditions and loss of vision on him from the boat.
Reid said he has still not given up on a second successful Cook Strait swim yet and would like to try again if the opportunity arose.
"I had decided that as I came off the boat and onto land.
"I made a comment to my support crew that it would be cool to come back and finish it. They were thinking "What? Are you mad?""
Reid has remained positive despite not making the finish line this attempt.
"I had a really good day - the end result wasn't so flash but that was out of my control."
He said his friends have helped to coach his mental fortitude to remove negativity.
"I'm not always that positive, I'm a real person so I have good days and bad days as well."
Jeff Reid at Hardinge Rd Beach where he likes to practice his swimming. He said he would like to have another attempt at swimming the Cook Strait. Photo / Warren Buckland
"If you're going to run a marathon, then you can't turn up on the day thinking 'well, I might make it or I might not'. You've got to be ready.
"I was quite focused on the day, I knew I had a job to do and stuck with it."
The last three and a half hours of his attempt were in the dark with earplugs in, leading to near-total sensory deprivation.
He said it meant he didn't realise how close he was to the finish until he was told afterwards.
"I couldn't see the coast, I couldn't see the land. I was swimming basically with my eyes closed."
He said he wouldn't have made it as far as he had without the crew on the support boat doing navigation work.
"They were working really hard to find the way across the rip or stretch of water. They were working the whole time to get me across."
He said he wanted to thank his wife Amy, friend Davey, writer Hayley Redpath and swimmer Phillip Rush with the Cook Strait Swim support crew for their support on the day.
"They wanted me to get there as much as I wanted to get there. They were really working hard."
