The Auckland Harbour Crossing, also called the Sovereign Harbour Crossing after the sponsoring company, is an annual

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

swim event / race in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. It involves a swim across the

Waitematā Harbour Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and easter ...

, with the route going from locations like either Stanley Bay or

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

on the North Shore to the finish in the

Viaduct Basin Viaduct Harbour, formerly known as Viaduct Basin, is a former commercial harbour on the Auckland waterfront that has been turned into a development of mostly upscale apartments, office space and restaurants. It is located on the site of a formerl ...

in the

Auckland city centre The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's le ...

. Entrants must complete the course in less than 105 minutes, but the winning competitors usually take little more than 30 minutes for the distance, though tidal currents and wave conditions may modify average times slightly. The competition was first held in 2004 with about 500 entrants, and as of 2009, attracts more than 1,400 swimmers. The naming sponsor is Sovereign Limited, a New Zealand insurance company which sponsors the 'Ocean Swim' series of swimming events. The race, while attended by lifeguards and safety boats, and being managed so that shipping traffic in the harbour is stopped for the duration, is not without risk, and there have been two deaths among competitors, once in 2005 (suspected heart attack),
Man dies in harbour swim
' – ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', Sunday 6 November 2005 and once in 2009.
Competitor dies in cross-harbour swim
' – ''

'', Sunday 22 November 2009 The event attracts amateur swimmers as well as professional athletes. Some celebrities have also taken part, such as

Rodney Hide Rodney Philip Hide (born 16 December 1956) is a former New Zealand politician of the ACT New Zealand party. Hide was a Member of Parliament for ACT from 1996 until 2011, was ACT's leader between 2004 and 2011, and represented the constituency f ...

, who however twice failed to succeed in his attempts at completing the event.
Hide has that sinking feeling ... again
' – ''

'', Sunday 22 November 2009

References

{{Reflist

External links

Harbour Crossing, Auckland
(event website) Sport in Auckland Swimming in New Zealand Swimming competitions in New Zealand Open water swimming