Park City realtor and endurance athlete Rob Lea became the first person to climb the Seven Summits and swim the Oceans Seven after swimming the Tsugaru Strait from Honshu to Hokkaido, Japan, on Tuesday.
Climbing the Seven Summits often entails scaling the highest mountains on all seven continents: Mount Everest in Asia, Aconcagua in South America, Mount McKinley in North America, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Elbrus in Europe, Puncak Jaya in Oceania and Mount Vinson in Antarctica, and swimming the Oceans Seven means crossing the English Channel, North Channel, Molokai Channel, Catalina Channel, Cook Strait, Strait of Gibraltar and Tsugaru Strait unassisted and without a wetsuit.
Lea began his journey in 2009, summiting Aconcagua. He summited Mount McKinley in 2010, Mount Everest in 2019, Mount Vinson in 2021, Kilimanjaro in 2022, Puncak Jaya in 2025 and Mont Blanc in 2025, rather than Mount Elbrus. He swam the English Channel in 2019, Catalina Channel in 2021, Cook Strait and North Channel in 2024, Strait of Gibraltar and Molokai Channel in 2025.
Lea crossed the Tsugaru Strait on Tuesday in 11 hours and 44 minutes, swimming 29.93 miles while covered in diaper rash cream and gained about 25 pounds to protect himself from the sun and water temperatures, respectively. It was Lea’s second time attempting to swim the Tsugaru Strait, failing to complete it in 2023.
“Oh my god, I’m on Hokkaido,” Lea said in a video posted on his Instagram account. “That was really hard. I can’t believe I did it.”
Lea then sat down to rest for a moment on the beach in Hokkaido with a mix of emotions running through his exhausted mind after the swim.
“I am so glad to be done with that swim,” Lea said. “But I’m also so excited to have accomplished this long, long term goal.”
Lea begrudgingly had to swim back to his support boat after finishing the swim, where his wife, 2024 U.S. Senate nominee and ski mountaineer Caroline Gleich, awaited him. Gleich was supporting Lea and giving their Instagram followers updates from the support boat during the crossing.
“The whole boat and world is so happy for him,” Gleich said in a video posted on Instagram accounts. “What a day and life. … We’re so happy. He did it. More to come.”
Lea is still in Japan recovering before flying back to Park City with Gleich next week. He said he already can’t wait for what will be his next challenge.
