Jellyfish Stop Ultra Endurance Athlete in Hawaii

Pelletier got swollen eyes

Last summer ultra-endurance athlete Nick Pelletier made headlines when he swam the 106-km length of Okanagan Lake from Vernon, BC to Penticton in 71 hours.

Originally from Kelowna, the 26-year-old was very familiar with the lake, but he wasn't quite prepared for his next challenge -- to swim across Molokai Chanel, 41km between the Hawaiian islands of Molokai and Oahu.

He swam the length of Okanagan Lake last year

While he was ready to deal with sharks in the water, he really should have been worried about jellyfish.

"I knew there'd be sharks and jellyfish, I was just hoping I wouldn't run into them," he said in a radio interview.

However, he encountered a lot of jellyfish, resulting in long red streaks across his torso and arms.

"It got me in the face here and then all over my arms, and my chest and everything," said Pelletier. 

He said he could feel jellyfish tentacles on his hand as he swam, and then tentacles began hitting him in the face.

"It looks kind of like I got whipped," he explained. "I felt like I had a hot iron on me, getting branded."

The stings also left him with swollen eyes.

Pelletier was in the water for 13 hours, halfway through his swim when his crew decided to pull him out. 

"It's very frustrating," he said, adding he had been fighting rough currents, and his lungs were filling with saltwater which made him feel sick.

Jellyfish left stings and red streaks on his torso

He was disappointed after all the practice he had done was all for naught.

"At that moment, you just kind of think about all the time you spent in training that people don't see.

"You get all the hours, and hours and hours in the pool alone and mentally preparing in the gym, strengthening your shoulders, doing your running, everything like that... So, all this stuff kind of flashes before your eyes when you're getting pulled,"

Pelletier is laying low in Hawaii for the rest of the week, but plans to attempt his swim again, but did not say when.

"It's always a learning experience," he said. "I wouldn't trade the things I've learned for anything."