Posted: Jan 20, 2006 11:55 am EST
(TheOceans.net) On Monday January 16th, Lewis Gordon Pugh completed a 12km swim across Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth. According to South African News24.com, Pugh’s home expedition team reported that this latest swim brings him one stroke closer to completing what they call the 'Holy Grail' - a long distance swim in all five oceans.

From solicitor to swimmer in one dive

The Welsh solicitor, who put his career on ice to follow his swimming dreams, took his first dip at the age of 22 when he swam the English Channel. Pugh currently holds the record for the most northerly swim - a 1km sprint at 80°N off the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen.

Less than a month ago Lewis plunged into the icy waters off the Antarctic Peninsula to smash the world record for the most southern long distance swim ever undertaken.

Wearing only speedo trunks, goggles and a swimming cap, Lewis swam 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in 0°C (32°F) water. He took 18 minutes and 10 seconds to complete the swim and was supported by a 10 person team based aboard the MV "Polar Star".

After taking the plunge, Lewis said: “It is a crazy photo! I dived off the iceberg – and shortly afterwards it crumbled and rotated! Lucky I was off it!”

Secret to his Lewis’ success

Professor Tim Noakes who heads up Lewis’s expedition team believes that the challenge is rooted in the limitations of the human makeup.

"Lewis is able to survive in these waters due to a combination of factors. When he enters the water, his core body temperature is extremely high (38.4°C) and he is able to maintain this temperature for up to 15 minutes in ice cold water.”

His team also believes it’s simply a natural response to Lewis’ years of training in extremely cold waters; water that would otherwise paralyze most humans in a matter of seconds. Indeed, few swimmers could complete a long distance swim in Antarctica’s waters in nothing but a speedo.

“To my knowledge, this capacity has not been previously described," said Noakes.

Indian Ocean: Check

Next on Pugh's checklist was the Indian Ocean. Now that that’s done and dusted, Lewis has his eyes on the next item up: Pacific Ocean. News24.com reports that the British swimmer will dive into the waters off Bondi Beach (Australia) to swim 17km to the Sydney Opera House a week from today.

"Success is so close I can almost feel it. This challenge started 14 years ago and an enormous amount of hard training has brought me to this point,” he told News24.com. "A few years ago I would never have believed it would be possible for anybody to complete a long-distance swim in all five oceans of the world."

Monday’s Indian Ocean swim was relatively painless for Pugh after braving his latest swims in the Arctic and Southern Oceans. It took him 4 hours and 57 minutes to complete the 12km distance. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The waters were a cool 20ºC but he faced some fairly rough seas that day.

"I thought it would be a piece of cake," Lewis told his support team. "The wind picked up during the swim and I got hammered."

As for his next swim, Lewis may not be diving under icebergs on his way to the Sydney Opera House, but the Pacific Ocean certainly won’t be as warm as the Caribbean. Still, the swim should prove a refreshing change from the Arctic. One thing for sure though, this record holding swimmer is looking forward to double-digit degree waters.

"I hate being cold," says Lewis shivering after one of his many icy training session.


Lewis Gordon Pugh’s, who already holds the world record for the longest cold water swim, has completed long-distance swims in the Atlantic Ocean(English Channel, 1992), Arctic Ocean(North Cape, Norway 2003), and the Southern Ocean(Deception Island, Antarctic Peninsula, 2005). According to his website, achieving the “5 Oceans” swimming challenge (modeled on the "Seven Summits" concept), will make Pugh the only distance swimmer to have swam the waters around the two poles.

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