News
Source: Red Bull
Some would call you impressive if you just took a half hour dip in the chilly sea surrounding Great Britain. So that surely makes Ross Edgley’s record-breaking achievement—a 1,791-mile trek around the British mainland—nothing short of staggering. On November 4th, Edgley returned to the same spot where he’d set off—a coastal southeast England town called Margate—on June 1st, 157 days later. Edgley never set foot on land, but instead rested on a support boat between swims.
During the epic feat, which supporting partner Red Bull called “The Great British Swim,” Edgley coped with rough, icy waters, endured jellyfish stings, and dodged the odd basking shark. But even “rhino neck” (chaffing around his neck from his wetsuit) and a severe case of “salt mouth” (salt build-up on his tongue) couldn’t stop the Brit from finishing the job he’d set out to do.
“I said I was going to try and swim all the way around Great Britain, so many people told me it couldn’t be done—it’s impossible,” said the 33-year-old Edgley after arriving back on dry land. “And I was like, ‘I agree with you, in theory it looks like it can’t be done but I’m going to try.’ Having done it now, what would be amazing is to see people shift their own personal barometer on what they think is possible.”
Edgley actually bagged four world records along the way: first person to swim the entirety of England’s south coast, the longest ever staged sea swim, the fastest person to swim from Land’s End to John O’Groats (900 miles in 62 days), and the first person to swim around the entire coast of Great Britain without ever setting foot on land. We’d be willing to bet he’s the first and last person to do it!
Read more here.
RELATED ARTICLES
LATEST EQUIPMENT
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Featured Photographer
