Antonio Argüelles is a Mexican swimmer who crossed the Cook Strait in New Zealand on Sunday, a test that belongs to the Ocean's Seven, a journey that consists of completing seven swims through open waters with a very high degree of difficulty.
Argüelles would only have to travel the North Channel, also known as the Moyle Strait, located between Ireland and Scotland.
The Seven Seas test consists of swimming through the Strait of Gibraltar, Tsugaru, the Catalina Channels, the English Channel, Moloka'i, Cook Strait, and the North Channel.
BIOGRAPHY
Antonio Argüelles is an entrepreneur, writer, public servant, and open water swimmer, who has dedicated himself to promoting physical activity in our country.
At 57 years old, he has won the Open Water Swim Crown three times, which consists of swimming from Catalina Island to the coast of California, circling Manhattan Island, and crossing the English Channel. So far, he is the only swimmer in the world to have achieved this feat twice (1999 and 2009).
In addition, among other achievements, he founded the Mexican Triathlon Federation, was the National Sports Award winner in 2009, and entered the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014.
CAREER IN THE OCEAN'S SEVENS
His journey in this traverse began 20 years ago, in 1997, when he swam around Manhattan, which he completed in a time of 7 hours, 56 minutes, and 18 seconds.
Two years later, in 1999, he crossed the Catalina Channel three times, as well as swimming around Key West, Florida; in addition to crossing the English Channel, located between France and England.
After this great season, Antonio Argüelles took a decade to return to the seas; in 2009 he returned to Manhattan and once again crossed the English Channel. In 2015, his feat was completed by crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, which is located between Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula; later he swam across the Tsugaru Strait in Japan.
Exactly 366 days ago, on March 22, 2016, the Mexican completed the journey through the Moloka'i Strait in the Hawaiian archipelago.
In 2017, Argüelles crossed the Catalina Channel for the fourth time in his career, in addition to going to Cook Strait; with this, he only has to swim the North Channel, located between Ireland and Scotland.