Pugh closer to 'Holy Grail'

2006-01-16 16:42

Johannesburg - Swimming sensation Lewis Gordon Pugh completed a 12km swim across Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth on Monday, his expedition team said.

This brings him one step closer to becoming the first person to achieve the "Holy Grail" of completing a long distance swim in all five oceans.

Just weeks ago Pugh set a world record for the most southern swim ever completed - in 0 degrees centigrade water off Antarctica.

Fourth on Pugh's list was the Indian Ocean done on Monday.

On January 27 Pugh will dive into the Pacific Ocean at Bondi Beach, Australia, and swim 17km to the Sydney Opera House.

"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.

"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," said Pugh.

Unique ability to swim in ice-cold water

Professor Tim Noakes, Director of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, who accompanied Pugh on his recent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, explained that it was Pugh's unique ability to swim in ice-cold water was the key to his success:

"The challenge of swimming in all five oceans is rooted in the limitations of human physiology. There are very few swimmers in the world that can complete a long-distance swim in the Arctic or Antarctic in just a Speedo," he said.

The Indian Ocean swim on Monday was relatively easy for Pugh compared to the challenges of his recent Arctic and Southern Ocean swims. The swim was in 20 degrees C water but choppy seas resulted in the crossing taking 4 hours 57 minutes.

Pugh who has pioneered more swims than any other swimmer in history has already completed long-distance swims in the Atlantic Ocean - English Channel, 1992 - the Arctic Ocean - North Cape, Norway 2003 -, and the Southern Ocean - Deception Island, sub-Antarctica, 2005.

Achieving this "Holy Grail" of swimming will catapult Pugh into the record books alongside legendary sportsmen and explorers such as Sir Roger Bannister, Roald Amundsen and Sir Edmund Hillary.

The "5 Oceans" is modelled on the "Seven Summits" concept where mountaineers attempt to climb the highest mountain on each continent of the world.

- SAPA