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Pugh completes 'Holy Grail'
27/01/2006 10:12 - (SA)
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| South African swimmer Lewis Pugh holds his arms up in triumph as he exits the water near the Opera House in Sydney. (Paul Miller, AP) |
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Sydney - A long-distance Cape Town swimmer dodged Sydney ferries and a fear of sharks to claim a world record on Friday by completing marathon swims in all five major oceans.
Lewis Gordon Pugh, 36, added the Pacific to his list of conquests with a six-hour, 15-kilometre paddle from Manly north of Sydney to the iconic Opera House on the shorefront of the city's spectacular harbour.
Pugh claimed the swim made him the first person to complete long-distance swims in the Atlantic, Arctic, Southern, Indian and Pacific oceans.
"There's something very magical about swimming in all five oceans of the world," an elated Pugh said after climbing from Sydney Harbour.
"It feels great to have been the first to do it. A few years ago I would never have believed this would be possible."
Pugh, British-born but raised in South Africa, began his quest in 1992, by swimming across the English Channel in the Atlantic Ocean.
In 2003 he swam around North Cape, Norway, in the Arctic Ocean then in 2005 swam in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica.
He began his final push by swimming across Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, in the Indian Ocean last week and then completed the journey in Sydney.
Tim Noakes, director of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa who accompanied Pugh on his Arctic and Antarctic swims, said the South African had explored new limits with his feat.
"The challenge of swimming in all five oceans is rooted in the limitations of human physiology," Noakes said in a statement.
"There are very few swimmers in the world that can complete a long-distance swim in the Arctic Ocean or Southern Ocean in just a pair of Speedos.
"Most swimmers would be disabled within seconds of diving into the
freezing water," he said.
He said Pugh had a unique ability to raise his core body temperature to counter the extreme cold water.
Pugh said Friday's swim was relatively easy, but a bit nerve-wracking after an electronic anti-shark device he had been using was washed overboard at the start of the swim.
"It was a bit scary swimming in Australian waters without an electronic anti-shark device but luckily we did not encounter any sharks". -AFP
- News24
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