In 1962, it took Barrie Devenport 11 hours and 20 minutes to become the first person to do what?

The challenge, to be the first in recorded history, to swim Cook Strait was likened to other sporting challenges such as Roger Bannister’s first sub-four minute mile and Sir Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Everest.
Wellington surf lifesaver Barrie Devenport was the first to overcome the challenge on November 20, 1962, when he swam from Cape Terawhiti in the North Island to Wellington Rock in the South in 11 hours and 13 minutes