Ross Edgley on Long British Swim Expedition

Edgley left Margate, Britain, on June 1 and over the past 80-plus days has been swimming around the country.

He’s past jellyfish and the salt water is disintegrating parts of his tongue, but beyond those issues everything has gone smoothly.

We are going EAST! After 80+ days of swimming North I cannot tell you how good it feels to write this ? Next stop: John O’Groats #greatbritishswim

A post shared by Ross Edgley (@rossedgley) on Aug 27, 2018 at 5:36am PDT

“Wildlife is always a danger when you’re isolated in the sea. Giant jellyfish are a particular worry,” Edgley said.

“I won’t shave. Because you’re leading with the head and the face will be most exposed, any protection, like a big beard, will help. I’ll try and grow it so by the time I get up to Scotland it’s fairly rugged. I’ll also encounter sea otters, dolphins and killer whales along the way, which I’m actually looking forward to. It’ll help break things up for me and be an incredible privilege to see.”

It’s the equivalent of swimming the English Channel every day. “But I know my body can take it; I know I can be the first person in history to achieve it,” he said.

When complete, he’ll have swam 3,2220 kilometres on the expedition, which is known as a ‘contiguous stage sea swim.’

So far, he’s swam about 20 kilometres/day and travelled about 1,600 kilometres.

“I feel an immense sense of pride,” he said last week. “it’s obviously no easy feat! Scotland represented such an important point. It meant we stood a chance of getting round John O’Groats [the northern tip of Britain], and back down the other side before winter really kicks in.”

You can follow along on his site here and on Instagram below.

Self imposed swimming solitary confinement ? Random fact ? We worked out during the #greatbritishswim I’ve spent over 483 hours (over 20 days) staring into the blue abyss (eek) Yup, it can get pretty “dark” which we talk about on this weeks @redbulluk episode (see link in bio for latest episode) ? By @victory_visuals

A post shared by Ross Edgley (@rossedgley) on Aug 12, 2018 at 12:10pm PDT

“To do this sort of challenge I need the ability to swim 50km day and night, powering through 10ft waves,” he said.

“But if the currents are against me I have no chance. The GB rowing challenge, which follows the same route, is labelled as the world’s toughest rowing race on account of the tides, unpredictability and weather. It also follows roughly the same route I will be on. When I told its organisers I’d be swimming it they told me I was crazy.

‘“If you get it wrong around The Highlands you’ve eight knots coming against you,” they said.

‘”So even if you are swimming two to three knots, an Olympic level, you’ll still be going back four knots.” It’s basically going to be a game of chess with Mother Nature – you can swim hard, but you need to swim smart.”‘

Summer body goals? Mine are to make my body fatter ✅ Face hairier ✅ Skin rougher ✅ All to make me more durable and resilient and ultimately finish the #greatbritishswim ? My point? I was thinking on yesterday’s LONG swim that the fitness industry so often can place too much emphasis on solely looking good (which can be such a “fragile” form of motivation), but as per the teachings of #TheWorldsFittestBook try making your body an instrument, not just an ornament. Make it fit for a specific purpose and train for an event or adventure. In my experience it’s more rewarding, more enjoyable and more fulfilling than training just for that perfect summer selfie on the beach ?

A post shared by Ross Edgley (@rossedgley) on Aug 18, 2018 at 12:00am PDT