The Otago Daily Times counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport.
No 95: Rush swims Cook Strait - twice (1984)
He completed the distance in 16hr 15min on March 13, 1984, and repeated the feat four years later in 19hr 2min. Only one other swimmer has completed a double crossing.
Rush attempted a triple crossing in 1987 but turned back on his third leg when the water temperature dropped from 16degC to under 10degC and hypothermia was building.
Rush is still the world record-holder for the fastest two- and three-way swims of the English Channel. He completed the three-way swim in 1987 in 28hr 21min, and the two-way swim in 16hr 10min.
In his three-way swim, the time for the first leg from England to France was 7hr 55min, the return to England was 8hr 15min and the return leg to France was 12hr 11min.
Only two other swimmers have completed the three-way swim and their times were much slower than Rush's.
Rush first set a world record for a two-way swim of the channel in 1985 17hr 56min.
Rush swam the English Channel 10 times and Cook Strait eight times, and became the first person to complete a double crossing of New Zealand's Lake Taupo (40.2km) in January 1985.
He also holds the time record of 10hr 14min set on March 10, 1985.
Rush grew up in Dunedin, trained with Duncan Laing and got used to the cold-water temperatures at the beaches and in the rivers around Dunedin.
He retired from swimming in 1990 and now coaches and prepares swimmers to tackle Cook Strait.
