The Tūhura Otago Museum board chairman and University of Otago physics professor attempted to swim across the cold and unpredictable waters of the Cook Strait yesterday to raise money for a much-needed new fire sprinkler system at the museum.
The 56-year-old left Ohau Point, west of Wellington, about 8.30am, but had to abandon his first effort at swimming the 22km-26km stretch after 7 hours and 45 minutes about 4.40pm.
He was picked up about halfway between the islands and dropped back to Wellington.
He was disappointed not to complete his goal, but was content there was not anything else he could have done on the day.
"Maybe if I was a bit fitter, a bit stronger, a bit faster, things might have been different, but I actually suspect not.
"It’s just one of those things that sometimes it just doesn’t work."
The conditions were favourable for about three hours, but then the wind changed directions and it became "pretty choppy".
For the last hour of his swim, Prof Hutchinson was swimming against the tide and stayed in the same spot.
"I sort of got trapped and pinned by the tide and the wind and essentially wasn’t moving."
Despite it being his first attempt, he felt any swimmer would have struggled in yesterday’s conditions going south.
Two other swimmers, Vero Wong and Ayaka Matsushita, crossed the strait, but they were heading north.
He said his shoulders and neck felt a bit stiff afterwards, but overall his body felt remarkably all right.
His plan was to have an Emerson’s Bird Dog after finishing the swim, but he refused to because he abandoned the effort.
"I have a can with me, but I didn’t open it because I felt guilty. I couldn’t, having not succeeded."
He hoped to raise about $50,000 towards the estimated $2 million cost of buying and installing a fire sprinkler system for Tūhura Otago Museum.
Last night, his Givealittle page had received nearly $7000.
