Published July 4, 2026 04:58AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe I did it,\u201d Rob Lea exhales. \u201cI am totally and utterly wrecked.\u201d<\/p>\n
He slumps to the shore<\/a> of Hokkaido, Japan\u2019s northernmost island,\u00a0salt-crusted and green with zinc paste.<\/p>\n This scene played out on June 30, when Lea, 44, swam across the Tsugaru Strait in the Sea of Japan, which connects the island of Honshu to Hokkaido, over the course of 12 hours.<\/p>\n The open-water swim was the final leg of a challenge that Lea, a realtor and endurance athlete, has spent the last 17 years working toward.<\/p>\n Lea<\/a> is believed to be the first person<\/a> to finish both the Seven Summits and the Oceans Seven, known as the Double Seven. Lea believes he is the first person to ever complete a challenge called the \u201cDouble Seven,\u201d which comprises both mountaineering and open-water swimming challenges. He climbed the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on all of the continents. He also completed the Oceans Seven, an open-water challenge that requires swimmers to complete unassisted solo crossings of seven iconic ocean channels.<\/p>\n