Celebrating end of the Molokai Channel with skipper Mike Twigg-Smith and Mike Cochrane.
Molokai Channel - 24 October 2024
The last of the Ocean Sevens swims was completed on a Thursday morning at Alan Davis beach on the island of Oahu. Caitlin became the youngest person to ever complete the ocean sevens at just 20 years old, breaking the record by over 2 years. Molokai, also known as the channel of bones took Caitlin 13hrs and 58minutes to complete.
Huge thank you to coach Philip Rush and Mike Cochrane for supporting her throughout the swim.
CATALINA CHANEL - 16 JULY 2024
An excellent swim through the night .. & a fantastic pod of dolphins greeting her towards the end of her swim! Completed in a time of 8hours & 58minutes from Catalina to Long Beach.
MOLOKAI CHANNEL - 18 NOVEMBER 2023
MOLOKAI CHANNEL - 2 / CAITLIN - 0
Another tough day on the water for Caitlin..
Starting from the Western Coast of Molokai at approximately 2.00am Caitlin entered the water in good spirits with little natural light to guide her except for phosphorescence sparkling around her as she swam. Conditions were a little choppy and a cross swells wrapping around the coast from both north & south were not particularly speed inducing though we did have a tailwind once clear a few miles of the Island.
Unfortunately we decided to abandon the swim at 16 hours. Even though e had good weather the Molokai still gives us 1-2m rolling swells and a lot of slop in between. After swimming 3 hours in the dark to straight Caitlin never really found her mojo and suffered severe sea sickness. For about 6 hours we couldn’t get any fluids into her and together with some currents she was having to really flight. Into the dark again she went but with still 8 kms to go and the potential landing at a surf beach in the dark Caitlin decided today was not her day to complete the Molokai.
We are so proud of her - she fought like an Ox from beginning to end and determination got her the 16 hours/ 37 kms across.
Molokai will always be there for another battle.
Gibraltar Strait - 11 SEPTEMBER 2023 - Oceans 7 #5
Caitlin managed to get a spot with this fantastic team of guys at short notice! A great team effort saw them all get across to Morocco in the time of 6hrs & 4minutes.
The swim started in Tarifa Spain, The swimmers were greeted by dolphins shortly after the start and also in later stages.
Expert pilots navigated the swimmers through the busy shipping lanes and all four swimmers reached the shores of Morocco together.
Thank you to Anthony, Brice , Omar and Mark from Neda El Mon. Also to Laura from Gibraltar Swim Association for making it all happen.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/11/17/caitlin-conquering-the-seven-seas/
North ChanneL - 24 August 2023 - OCEANS 7 #4
Starting at 5:08am in the dark Caitlin swam from Donaghadee Ireland to the point below Killantringan Light house, covering 36.2km in a time of 9 hourss & 57 minutes. A good strong swim with light Westerlies giving a small surface chop and remnant swells from initially the South and then the Atlantic North swell as she crossed the channel. She had good sunlight for the majority of the day which kept the notorious jellyfish floating insight but deeper than normal. Sea Temperature started at 15.4’c climbing to 16.5’c through the day - Though the air temperature was a chilly 14deg!
A big thank you for the effort and expertise of Brian Meharg, Merve and our Official observer Ruth on the mighty Bangor Boat!
ENGLISH CHANNEL - 09 AUGUST 2023 - OCEANS 7 #3
Starting in the dark from Shakespear Bay, Dover & finishing at Cap Griz Nez, Caitlin started strong right from the get go and although feeling nauseous initially due to the sea state pushed on maintaining a good speed and stroke rate.
Unofficial time 9hrs and 34min which is the fastest female time of the 2023 season. ( Distance covered 43km )
Thank you to Lance Oram and crew.
CATALINA CHANNEL - 02 AuGUST 2022
Well Catalina wasn’t the best experience for Caitlin! - She had an attack of the nerves heading out across to Catalina and although she managed to get herself into the water she was never really comfortable and struggled to keep her fears and emotions in check.
Left the beach at Catalina at approximately 11pm in pitch black conditions and once beyond the shelter of the bay conditions became quite lumpy. She managed to swim for 4.6kms but struggled to get herself calm enough to get in a rythm and get her breathing right.
Its not the first time Caitlins struggled with her fears and no doubt will not be her last - Very disappointed with the outcome and obviously has the sense that she’s let her team & supporters down but learning from the experience and looking to come back stronger next time!
TSUGARU STRAIT - 05 JULY 2022
OCEANS 7 #2
TUESDAY 0410 - UNDERWAY FOLLOWING THE MAGIC CARPET!
TSUGARU STRAIT - 05 JULY 2022
MONDAY: 20:00 JST - Early start tomorrow - Due at the dock 0300 for a 0400 start in the water. Forecast is good. Tracker: https://www.oceanswims.nz/track/tsugaru-strait/
Sunday 18:00 JST - Skipper has just confirmed swim date 05/07 looks promising. Start time to be confirmed tomorrow. Been across to Hokkaido for Starbucks and Chips today via bullet train ( tunnel under Tsugaru Strait ) a smidge quicker than swimming!
Saturday 03:00 JST - First swim day cancelled due to Fog & wind conditions…waiting for more daylight so they can see the road back to the hotel!
Its that time - One short sleep to Go! Heading down to the boat for a swim 3:30AM tonight ( Sunrise is just after 4am so not as bad as it sounds! )
GU ENERGY - NEW ZEALAND
Thanks GU Energy for coming onboard and supporting me with my energy needs!
Go for It!
DOUBLE TAUPO - MARCH 2022 / WEstpaC Chopper Swim
6-7th March 2022: Massive 28 Hour 2 Minute swim to cross the 40.2km Taupo Lake twice. This swim was fundraising for the annual Westpac Chopper Swim. As at writing your support has raised $7700 towards Auckland’s Westpac Rescue Helicopter - Fantastic Thank you!
At 17 years old Caitlin became the third person to successfully complete double Lake Taupo - the last person was Sandra Blewett in 1986.
https://nemo49.wordpress.com/2022/03/06/caitlin-oreilly-wow/
https://www.taupo.info/news/teenage-girls-weekend-swim-82km-28-hours-and-2-minutes
LiveOcean - Positive Ocean Action!
I’m proud to be a Live Ocean Champion - Every day I swim in the Sea - whether it be at home in the Hauraki Gulf or further afield I see the effects of human kind around me. It maybe obvious, like a piece of rubbish or plastic floating by or something less obvious like maybe not seeing any fish life or too many Kina… I’m not an expert so want to support those that are. Donations to the Liveocean foundation help our researchers to learn what’s happening out there beneath the surface so that we have the knowledge to do our best to protect it.
Lets Do our bit for the future!
WESTPAC 2021 CHOPPER SWIM - MARCH 2021
Looking forward to another epic swim from Waiheke to Auckland. If you would like to donate to this great cause click on the picture to follow the link to my page!
The swim is set to take place on the 25th of March - so not to long to go now…
2020 Starship SWIMAthon - NoVember 2020
A big thanks to the support team, organisers and surf lifesaving team behind this years Starship Swimathon! A great group of people on the beach at Mairangi Bay for what was a beautiful day with plenty of sun and chat. Managed to tick off around twenty five kilometers and will be wearing a hat low over my forehead for the rest of the week due to my swim cap tan line…
NEWSTALK ZB - MORNING EDITION 5:15AM INTERVIEW WITH KATE HAWKSBY- SEPT 2020
SUBZERO IMAGES Ltd - JULY 2020
Gareth Cooke & Zoe Hawkins have come onboard and plan to document my training towards the Foveaux Strait swim. Should be fun and I look forward to learning as much as I can about the in’s and out’s of the film / TV industry along the way - hopefully I dont make to much of an ass of myself!
Hoping to generate some funding to get to air - so if you haven’t already please follow our new instagram page SwimmingFoveaux which will have regular teasers and updates!
KNN ( KEA KIDS NEWS ) - MaRCH 2020
Danielle Halse interviews Caitlin during North Shore swimming squads last training session pre New Zealand lock down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thanks to everyone involved and for the effort put in to bring to Air!
WESTPAC CHOPPER SWIM 2020 - 20th MARCH 2020
Unfortunately due to the massive impact the Covid-19 virus is having around the world and here in NZ, this years swim has been rightly cancelled - A big thanks to all of you that have made a donation for a great cause - Over $43,500.00 has been raised to date, so proud to be involved and already looking forward to next year!
NORTH ISLAND SECONDARY SCHOOLS ( ROWING ) - 13-15TH MARCH 2020
LAKE KARAPIRO - Amazing week of rowing with some good results by the Carmel team across the board. I competed in the U18 Double Sculls with Madison Lockyer coming away with - after a heats 2nd, semi-final 4th and then 6th in the A Final with a time of 8:09.46 - 5 seconds faster than our previous times!
In the Coxed Quad sculls with Luci Hall, Grace Rackman, and Taylor as Cox we placed well in the Heats and Semi but alas ran out of puff coming in 8th in the A final - Still pretty chuffed to have made it to the final! Then in the U18 Coxed Four we improved slightly come in at 6th in the A Final - Not bad considering the size of the field!
NZ ROWING CLUB NATIONALS - 18-22 FEBRUARY 2020
Lake Karapiro - Entered in the Womens Novice Coxed Eight, Coxed Four, Double Sculls, and Coxed Quad Sculls - Plenty to learn from in this regatta! - Amazingly we took bronze in the Eight and A Finals placing in the Four and Quad. In the double Ruby and I placed 5th in the B Final - Plenty for me to learn still!! And did I mention that the North Shore team of Isabella, Madison, Ruby, Grace and Liam kicked butt in the Coxed quad sculls taking out the gold! So Jealous!
LAKE ROToma OPEN WATER SWIM - 6TH FEBRUARY 2020
NORTH ISLAND CLUB CHAMPS ( ROWING ) - 25-27th JANUARY 2020
NEW ZEALAND OPEN WATER CHAMPIONSHIPS - TAUPO
KaraPIRO LAKE Christmas Regatta - 13-15th December 2019 ( ROWING )
First of the seasons regattas - I crewed in the Coxed Novice Quad, Novice Double and Novice Eight. We placed 3rd in both the Quad & Double which we were happy with and were 5th in our heat in the Eight - A little work to do there!
KARAPIRO LAKE CLUB REGATTA - 30th - 1st DECEMBER 2019 ( Rowing )
Another excellent regatta - I competed in three events, the first being the Novice Double with Isabella Bardua. We had a strong heat and then finished 2nd in the A final. Next event was the Women’s Novice Coxed Quad where we placed 7th after a gear failure. Then in the Women’s Novice Coxed Four we placed 5th.
Coxed Quad Crew: Isabella Bardua, Luci Hall, Madi Lockyer and Caitlin Duffield (cox).
Coxed Four Crew: Madi Lockyer, Ruby Horwood, Lucy Emmitt and Caitlin Duffield (cox).
WATCHMAN ISLAND SWIM - 20th OCTOBER 2019
The first swim of the Auckland Central Masters Harbour Swim Series - At approximately 2.2km in not so warm water at this time of year I was 1st home non wetsuit with a time of 30:55. A great fun 1st harbour swim of the season!
PLUNKET SWIM FUNDRAISER - 23rd NOVEMBER 2019
MAIRANGI BAY, NORTH SHORE - A twenty kilometer ( 12 x 1 Mile lap course ) swim as a fundraiser for the the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society, New Zealands largest provider of support services for development, health and wellbeing of children under five.
NZ OPEN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS - 2019
OWEN GLEN - NATIONAL AQUATIC CENTER - I qualified for three events & raced in the 100m Fly - placed 20th, In the 400m Free style 24th, and placed 35th in the 200m backstroke.
AON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, WELLINGTON - 16-20th APRIL 2019
NAGS 2019 - Up against some strong competition I competed in 6 events this year gaining top 16 in my 100m back stroke (16th), 100m Fly (15th), 400m IM (13th). I edged into the top 10 in my 1500m Freestyle (10th), 200m back stroke (9th) and placed 6th in my 200m Fly.
Rangitoto Swim - 24 March 2019
Auckland Central Masters Swim hold an annual series of Marathon swims each year - The Iconic Rangitoto swim is 4.6km and this year 85 swimmers made the pilgrimage by ferry across Auckland’s harbour to Rangitoto for the early start.
Caitlin made the crossing non-wetsuit in a time of 1:11:09 being quick enough to come in as first female non-wetsuit and claim the Eagle Trophy!
chopper challenge - 18 march 2019
Auckland’s Westpac Helicopter Trust
Once again organised by swim founder and organiser Olaf Adam and his fantastic team of volunteers the “Chopper Swim” is a 20km swim from Waiheke island to Mechanics Bay Rescue Center Auckland. In 2019 102 swimmers took on the challenge and this year we raised over $154,000 for this fantastic service for the community.
I paired up this year with friend Steve Brennan & Lacy Saenz was our support Kayaker. It was a beautiful day and we made good time splitting our swims into 45min spells. We were 4th relay team into Mechanics Bay and I thoroughly enjoyed my Monday off School 😊. A big thanks to Kirk Gibbs for lending dad his RIB for the day!
http://www.waihekegulfnews.co.nz/westpac-chopper-swim-a-huge-success/
LAKE TAUPO - 40.2KM - 14 february 2019
Teenager Caitlin O’Reilly at 14 years old became the youngest female to complete the 40.2km swim in a time of 13 hours and 26 mins.
https://skifmnetwork.co.nz/2019/02/19/teenager-caitlin-oreilly-swims-the-length-of-lake-taupo/
https://www.channelmag.co.nz/channel/features/caitlin-o-reilly-long-distance-swimmer/
https://localmatters.co.nz/news/31474-second-master-stroke-swimmer.html
NZ ULTRA-MARATHON SWIM AWARDS - JULY 2018
Honouring Kiwi Ultra Marathon swimmers 2017/2018
Caitlin was the recipient of a Legends Award for her Cook Strait swim.
A fantastic event that brought the Ocean Swimming community together to celebrate their successes.
Caitlin was very fortunate to meet iconic Kiwi swimmers - Keith Hancox (No. 2 Cook Strait in 1964), Chris Hurdley (No. 9 Cook Strait in 1978) and Sandra Blewett (No. 28 Cook Strait in 1984).
Laura, Caitlin & Casey
chopper challenge - 26 MArch 2018
Organised by a team of volunteers the Westpac Chopper swim is a 20km swim from Waiheke Island to Mechanics Bay Rescue Center, Auckland raising funds for the Auckland region’s essential rescue helicopter service.
This year I was blown away to swim with Casey Glover ( Fastest Cook Strait Crossing) and Laura Quilter ( SLSNZ World Champion & NZ Swimming Rep ). What a team!
This year 75 swimmers entered the water on Matiatia Bay beach in excellent conditions with very little wind and no waves ( a completely different scenario from the previous years swim ). Team Chopper Squad started together to the head of the mouth of the bay and then we split into 30min swims. Having three in the team was great as it allowed us to push hard whilst swimming knowing that we had a good recovery period before the next swim!
Although I didn’t see them (as I was head down swimming ) the highlight of the day for most was when a couple of Orcas decided to swim through the fleet – I’m glad mum didn’t tell me whilst I was in the water – think she said something about dolphins….which made me nervous enough!
We were 2nd relay team in after a fantastic Auckland day on the water. This year the event raised $120,000.
A big shout out to Drew & the Nottage family for lending us the mighty vessel Zimmer Frame & all your support!
http://northsidelive.co.nz/northsidelive/northside-live/catching-up-with-caitlin-o-reilly-swimmer/
NEW ZEALAND OPEN WATER CHAMPIONSHIP - JANUARY 2018
Caitlin’s first experience of the NZ Open Water Championship held in Lake Taupo - 13 years
5km - 1hr 13 mins 19 secs
AIMES junior excellence AWARD - Nov 2017
North Harbour Club - Sponsored by NZ Force Construction and Library Lane
The acronym AIMES stands for ARTS; INNOVATION; MUSIC; EDUCATION; SPORT; SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY. The North Harbour Club & Charitable Trust awards grants annually through the AIMES Awards to outstanding young people, aged 10 to 25, who are achieving excellence in these sectors.
Since the North Harbour Club's inception in 1995, over $2.2 million worth of AIMES Awards grants have been made, making the club one of the largest donors to individuals in New Zealand.
In 2017 Caitlin was the recipient of a Junior Excellence Award.
CARMEL COLLEGE SPORTS AWARDS - OCTOBER 2017
Carmel College Outstanding Sporting Achievement - Cook Strait Swim
