Wellington, Feb 9 NZPA - A 60-year-old Bay of Plenty man aiming to be the oldest to swim the Cook Strait was pulled from the sea tonight after battling fierce winds just off the coast of the North Island.

Mike Bodger, from Whakatane, set out this morning about 7.30am, 5km north of Perano Point, at the top of the South Island.

But high winds and strong seas proved too much for the veteran swimmer and he was pulled from the waves just 6km from the shore.

Support crew member Philip Rush told NZPA Mr Bodger had made it to within 5.9km of the shore before he started going backwards.

He had been swimming for nine hours and 22 minutes.

"He was incredibly tired, the weather wasn't favourable, we ended up with 25 knots of wind out there and it was very unfortunate."

Mr Bodger was "philosophical" about the attempt.

"He's 60-years-old, we had to have a good day and we did up until 1pm have an absolutely outstanding day, but it turned more than it should have."

Mr Rush said he wasn't sure if Mr Bodger would give the swim another shot.

"Realistically he can do it."

Tough weather conditions were part of the reason why there had only been 74 crossings by 64 swimmers since 1963.

Mr Bodger was challenging the record held by Pam Dickson, who made the swim at age 55 in 9 hours, 23 minutes and 10 seconds in March 2009.

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