Stefan Reinke’s Marathon Swim Story
Do you ever have that moment when someone’s name sounds so familiar but you’re not sure why? That’s exactly what happened to me today! Of course Stefan Reinke would be familiar to me, we’ve shared the water on multiple occasions. In 2014 we cruised down the flooded Red River of the North at END-WET, and again at the inaugural Cliff Backyard Ultra in 2018.
And I’m looking forward to visiting him on the Island of O’ahu in about a month for their annual Solstice Swim, listen to find out all about it – won’t you join us?
In his own words:
Stefan Reinke is an Oahu based open water swimmer. While he prefers the warm waters around the Hawaiian Islands, he has ventured to the mainland for END-Wet and SCAR ad the Cliff backyard Ultra. Stefan is one of the founding members of the Ala Moana Beach Swim Club. The AMBSC is a loosely knit group of followers who meet regularly at location around Oahu to train and promote open water swimming. The group focuses primarily on the island channel crossings.
In 2017, Stefan and his training partner, Ryan Leong made two attempts of the Kaʻiwi channel. The first attempt was halted due to a “too curious” Hobbes. Inspired by IMSHOF member, Linda Kaiser, the duo made the decision to try again, so six days later they set off from Molokai at 6:00PM. After chasing the moon over night and the sun for most of the day, the pair finished at Sandy Beach on Oahu after almost 20 hours.
Since that time, Stefan has successfully completed all of the Maui County Channels, (including the three channels in three days challenge) and the Kaulakahi Channel ( Kauaʻi to Niʻihau). He hopes to attempt the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel as soon as he can convince some of the other AMBSC members that it really is not a bad idea. SCAR 2022 is also on his agenda.
When he is not swimming, Stefan maintains an active litigation practice with Lyons Brandy Cook & Hiramatsu. He has been married to Lisa Reinke for 24 years. She is an avid one-man paddler, mountain biker, hiker and traveler.
