Sixteen-year-old swimming sensation Caitlin O'Reilly has swum the Foveaux Strait, making her the youngest person to achieve the New Zealand Triple Crown.
Photo: Supplied / Gareth Cooke/SubZero Images
The Triple Crown includes swimming Cook Strait and Lake Taupō.
She swam the Cook Strait at only 12-years-old, as the youngest Kiwi and youngest female to make the crossing.
The idea came to hear after hearing her coach speak about swimming the Strait.
"I thought 'oh, that's cool maybe I'll do that' and so I did."
After finishing the Foveaux Strait, more than 27 kilometres in just over 10 hours - all without a wetsuit - she told Morning Report she was nervous going into the swim.
"When I got in I just closed my eyes when I was looking down and opened them to see where I was going."
She says it took a lot of training to get used to the cold - training through winter and taking ice baths.
"When I first started the winter training I'd be sitting on the side of the pool with my hot chocolate and I'd be shaking and all of the hot chocolate would come out the side of the cup."
O'Reilly hopes to be swimming overseas in the future but if not, says she'll have to find something to do here.
