Marathon swimmer thwarted by man-o-war in Ka Iwi Channel

HONOLULU (KHON2) — A valiant effort was made by a marathon swimmer from India who wanted to swim across the Ka Iwi Channel. Unfortunately, he came up short.

Sri Viswanathan set out at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 20 from Molokai with the ambitious goal of completing the crossing while raising money for cancer research through the Swim Across America Organization.

But, about six hours into the swim, he was challenged by strong currents.

Then, he was attacked by a man-o-war jellyfish which forced him to quit after 13 hours in the water.

“I have gone through a lot of these things in the past, but then nothing prepared me for this kind of painful one,” said Viswanathan.

Sri, who is 50 years old, has already crossed the English and Catalina channels.

Not bad for someone who only started swimming at 33 years of age.

Sri said he plans to tackle the channel again in the future.