Warm Powerade, M&Ms, dinosaur lollies, energy gels and Nutella sandwiches could be a food combo that would make most people throw up.

The sugary treats certainly didn’t suit Auckland teenager Caitlin O'Reilly, 16, who vomited several times during her successful swim of the 28.6km Foveaux Strait on Wednesday (February 17).

O’Reilly finished her 10 hour swim without a wetsuit at 9pm, becoming the youngest person to achieve the New Zealand “triple crown” of open water swimming.

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O’Reilly previously swum the 26km Cook Strait in 2017, aged 12, and completed the Lake Taupo crossing in 2019.

The year 13 Carmel College student told the Southland App she slept on the plane on her trip home today and was now feeling “all right”.

“I am not as sore as I thought I would be. That’s a bonus,” she said.

O’Reilly said it was unusual for her to have problems with her nutrition during a swim.

She also struggled with negative thinking, which put her off her pace, she said.

“On my other swims, I have had a pretty positive mind set. But on this swim not so much. A bit of negativity didn’t help with the pacing . . . Eventually I snapped out of and I picked up my pace,” she said.

Caitlin O'Reilly said she struggled to stay positive during her 10 hour marathon swim. PHOTO: Gareth Cooke Sub Zero Images

She was able to change her mood after a chat with her coach, marathon swimming legend Phillip Rush, who also oversaw her Cook Strait swim in 2017.

“He just asked me how I was doing. He said he was analysing how I was doing, he could tell I was a bit off,” O’Reilly said.

Nausea did not usually happen to her, she said.

“It didn’t help staying positive when you are vomiting while swimming,” she laughed.

She was inspired to swim Cook Strait by her coach John Gatfield when she was 11. Gatfield had completed the crossing when he was 13 in 2004.

After completing her Cook Strait mission, her swimming plans grew.

The Cook Strait is one of the Oceans Seven Swims, which are regarded internationally as the top seven marathon open water challenges.

Nineteen swimmers are recorded as having completed the Oceans Seven challenge.

O'Reilly had intended to tackle a couple more of the Oceans Seven swims last year: the Catalina Channel in the United States and Tsugaru Strait, in Japan.

However, because of the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, those plans were delayed and O’Reilly decided to turn her focus instead to the chilly waters between Invercargill and Stewart Island. 

“I have not really thought of anything else to do. I will probably just stay in the pool and focus on pool competitions and picking up my pace,” she said.

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Foveaux Strait temperatures in February range between 9 and 18 degrees celcius. 

The conditions are often rough and the strait is recognised as a treacherous stretch of water. 

Nine swimmers – four men and five women - have now successfully completed the Foveaux Strait crossing.

Dutch immigrant John van Leeuwen is recorded as the first successful swimmer. He swam it on 7 February 1963, in a time of 13 hours 40 minutes.

Meda McKenzie was the first woman to swim the strait, in 1979.

The record for the fastest Foveaux Strait swim crossings are held by Todd Utteridge (male swimmers, 8 hours 40 mins, 1989) and Chloe Harris (female swimmers, 8 hours 30 mins, 2016).