If anyone would like to help out with getting Steve to the final leg of the Ocean's 7 challenge in Japan please get in touch:

David Williams
Contact : + 353 86 864 1575
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steve-Redmonds-Oceans-7-Swim-Challenge/164815306903048

Give

Aloha from Hawaii, back in the land of the living and everything i mean everything hurts breathing is painful but it will getter better quickly thanks to you all for your support over the last few weeks it's what gets me to the other side thinking about letting you all down if we fail .

I left Papohohako Beach on Molokai at 1800 on the 25/2/12 and finished in china walls in Ohaui at 1759.47 on the 26/2/12 covering just under 44 miles an incredible night and day where my skipper Ivan Shigaki never gave up on me even though the Molokai was out to get us from the start with the wind coming from the exact opposite direction from which it was forecast.

I swam through the night to the sound of Humpback Whales calling with horrible swells all day long we grinded on. to be honest i do not remember much of the last few hours only staring into an abyss of pain but I imagined the pain if I failed again and I thought how bad my brother Anthony and I felt leaving in defeat the last time fear of failure is a strong driving force in the end and the mantra never give up was said for many hours during the swim.

I still cannot believe we got away with it but they tell me we did I was in shock and near death when I got out but with such people as you behind me I cannot fail, thank you all this was truly your swim thanks. see you all soon and to the Irish in New Zealand and Linda Kaiser in Hawaii thank you all incredible and a debt I could never repay. Without you I am Nothing.

One More To Go ... Stephen Redmond Completes Molokai

Linda Kaiser reported that Stephen Redmond left Molokai Island at 6 pm on Saturday night and arrive on Oahu at 4:30 pm on Sunday, a victorious 22 hour 30 minute battle with the Molokai Channel.

He arrived on Oahu, clinging to China Walls, the first person to do so. During the first part of his channel challenge, Stephen enjoyed good conditions, covering 10 miles in less than 5 hours 30 minutes. But then he had to dig deep as the conditions deteriorated by mid-channel.

Stuck between two big rocks in a very hard place, Stephen did what he does best. He put his head down and stuck to his plan. But the swells in the middle of the biggest body of water on the planet were a legitimate 8 feet high and the wind was gusting at 20 - 25 miles per hour.

As he got closer to Sandy Beach, the best place to finish and the straightest course point-to-point, Stephen simply could not battle to get across the 'Ledge'. Struggling mightily and weakened from his earlier Cook Strait swim, Stephen was not able to make headway into the beach.

At a critical junction where success and failure were balanced on the razor-thin decision-making of his crew, Stephen was not getting out, but Mother Nature was seemingly not his ally. But his crew decided to just let him go with the prevailing current and watched helplessly as he was swept towards the Diamond Head volcano. Incredibly for those familiar with the lay of the land, Stephen was swept completely around Hanauma Bay and towards the southeastern shores of Oahu. If he would miss this last point, the next piece of land was the Kauai, impossibly hundreds of miles in the distance.

But Stephen is about to step into history for a reason: the Irish marathon swimmer kept his stroke up and continued against all odds. With Diamond Head in the foreground, Stephen finally struggled towards Maunalua Bay and grasped the dangerous ledge called China Walls (see above) where waves crash spectacularly against the boulders of the treacherous cliffs. Dozens of people witnessed the feat that was without parallel in the Molokai Channel.

Stephen encountered sharks and whales in the channel. While he swam without a shark deterrent of any kind, the whales did swim under and around him, serenading him. With six of the seven channels completed in his Oceans Seven quest, Stephen is on the brink of history with only the Tsugaru Channel remaining.

2/9/11 1800:

Back training , strange how you miss it after a couple of days started back on the 25 some swims in loch Ine. Nothing serous just some 1500 metres swims easy feeling out the shoulders water nice quite warm but am sick of the constant wind this summer. Cursing takes over training sessions to be honest so you end up switching to automatic as you get ready and hope that no one holds you up talking before swim. Into water grand job stretching to the right pier, long straight big tides this week so feels like swimming through treacle along the sides then over to the rapids and bang the water is just barrelling in always smile and feel very lucky to be swimming here like being catapulted from the rapids to the gap on the island . I know from point to point how my time and wether I need to speed up stroke. This is always a concern after Gibraltar have been working on always speeding up for the last 20 minutes of the 1 hour lap.

So it is an area that I need to constantly work on.**** this sorry back cursing to myself time to lighten up. Big house and 48 minutes so not too bad grey grey evening back in clear goggles for the future. Great and not so great that its quiet down here now but everyone gone Holidays over. Car park empty when lap is over so different in a couple of weeks. 57 minute s ok lap still rolling a bit and need to bring kicking up to speed for Catalina if we get there. ***** that thought.Banish the doubt s.

Weekend looks interesting for the Half Ironman In Galway hope the weather does not destroy it lot of westcork tri and Schull gone up to it. Just looking at the weather and it looks like it might blow through.

Song of the day from the swim Distance fades between us. Great song from OMD early stuff . followed by Royksopp what else is there. These thing keeps you going through the grim seconds of the day.

Talk soon