Swimming
Ross Edgley completes the Great British Swim
Ross Edgley has become the first person to swim around mainland Great Britain. As he takes his first steps back on dry land, we round up the major milestones of his epic journey.
Ross Edgley has returned to Margate in Great Britain after 157 days at sea. Finishing at 8.30am on Sunday, November 4, 2018, he arrived back to the very same spot he started his epic journey five months earlier. Along the way, he’s ticked off no less than four world records.
Setting off from Margate on June 1, 2018, Ross has circumnavigated the UK, propelled by muscle power alone. Tracked, recorded and measured for the entire swim, he’s been resting on a support boat between six-hour stints but hasn’t once set foot on land. Here’s a round-up of the major milestones and moments in his record-breaking adventure.
June
Ross sets off from Margate
Waved off by his friends, fans and local dignitaries including the Mayor of Margate, Ross dives into the English Channel from the Kent coast on June 1, 2018. He makes great progress on his first six-hour swim but he’s already suffering from a nasty bit of neck chafing. “The swimming is only part of it – the prehab is going to be so important,” Ross says.
Ross prepares for his first swim
© Harvey Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
Crossing the Strait of Dover
In his first week at sea, Ross dodges ferries and cargo ships as he crosses the Strait of Dover. One of the busiest shipping channels in the world, around 500-600 ships pass through on a daily basis. Ross is given a narrow window to sprint across, completing the challenge moments before a P&O ferry crosses his path. Watch the sprint from 06:42-08:11 below.
10 min
Ross Edgley's Great British Swim: Ep2 – "You're not supposed to swim here"
In his first week at sea, Ross dodges ferries and cargo ships as he crosses the Strait of Dover.
Salt mouth and Rhino Neck are here to stay
“I woke up this morning with chunks of my tongue on my pillow,” Ross tells the camera, pulling off a piece of his tongue to prove it. He’s suffering from ‘salt mouth', caused by the build-up of salt water on his tongue. He’s also developed severe chafing on his neck, which has led to his social media followers nicknaming him Rhino Neck.
To stop the chafing, Ross tries covering his neck in duct tape, cutting up his wetsuit and even swimming bare-chested, bringing him close to hypothermia. “It’s been a rough week, I’m not even going to lie,” Ross admits.
A pain in the neck: Ross uses duct tape to try and prevent neck chafing
© Harvey Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
Britain’s second-biggest shipping lane
Having conquered the Strait of Dover, Ross now faces Britain’s second-busiest channel: Portsmouth shipping lane. He’s given a 20-minute slot to cross, but, within minutes of starting the sprint, his support boat breaks down and he damages his shoulder. With no option but to keep going, he powers through the pain and completes the 6km (3.7 miles) swim just in time. Eye-wateringly close, it’s tense to say the least.
Attack of the jellyfish
After 20 days at sea, Ross is learning to cope with salt mouth and neck chafing, and is really starting to find his rhythm. But the ocean has other ideas: “Just when I think I’ve got this whole thing figured out… jellyfish!” says Ross. “The first one wasn’t so bad,” he explains, “but once I took, like, the 10th one, straight to the face...” He’d been ploughing face down through a swarm of jellies that made the sea look like frogspawn. To try and protect his face, the crew make him a ninja-style jelly mask. It lasts all of five minutes.
Ross vs Jellyfish
© Harvey Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
Ross meets the military
As Ross crosses into Devon, the British Royal Navy pay him a visit in HMS Biter and HMS Charger. Ross climbs aboard for a morale boost and challenges the Navy to a race: it’s man verses military vessel. Ross is awarded a trophy, embellished with a tigershark holding a trident, which seems fitting for the superhuman feats he’s ticked off so far.
May the best man win!
© Harvey Gibson / Red Bull Content Pool
July
World Record No.1: first person to swim the entire South Coast of the UK
“This is probably the most important point of the Great British Swim so far,” Ross says, when he passes Land's End and becomes the first person to swim the entire length of England’s South Coast – a world first, that took him just 30 days. To mark the milestone, he’s joined by kitesurfer Tom Bridge and surfing legend Andrew ‘Cotty’ Cotton. Ross also ticks off another first this week, swimming 16 miles (25.75km) in nine hours: a new Great British Swim record. Watch the best bits from 05:20-06:08.
8 min
The Battle of Land’s End – Ross Edgley's Great British Swim Ep6
We join Ross Edgley and his team as they approach the biggest and most significant landmark of the journey so far: Land’s End. If Ross can pass it, he'll have completed the whole of the South coast.
The Bristol Channel delivers a minke whale
“Rhino Neck is coming!” Ross announces before taking on the Bristol Channel. Enduring some of the toughest sea conditions yet, he’s churned by tides and smashed relentlessly by waves. “Three days of getting beaten up in the Bristol Channel was probably the hardest part of the Great British Swim so far,” says Ross. “It was just brutal.” Then, just at the point he’s digging deeper than ever before, a huge minke whale swims alongside him for support. Check it out from 01:09-01:53.
11 min
The Pain Is Real – Ross Edgley's Great British Swim Ep8
After more than 1,000 kilometres of swimming, Ross’ shoulders are starting to make some weird noises. Top sports physio Jeff Ross pays him a visit to get Ross swimming at his best again.
Crossing the Irish Sea
Setting another Great British Swim Record, Ross swims 97km (60 miles) across the Irish Sea. In the process, he smashes his longest swim so far: 16.3 nautical miles in a single tide. But it’s not all sunshine and dolphins. “The night swims are horrible. I’m not even going to sugar-coat it,” he admits.
August
Halfway point: the Mull of Kintyre
Having swum 1,411km (877 miles) past England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Ross reaches the official halfway point of the Great British Swim. A major milestone, he works out that it’s now more efficient to continue swimming clockwise to Margate, than return along the South Coast. “We’re now counting down the days, we’re not counting up,” says Ross when he reaches the Mull of Kintyre.
As Ross reaches the halfway point, the countdown is on
© Harvey Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
World Record No.2: the longest ever staged sea swim
“The Great British Swim has become the world’s longest staged sea swim,” Ross announces on August 14. He has surpassed the previous record of 73 days, set by Benoît Lecomte in 1998. But with around 1,448km (900 miles) still to go, he can’t get complacent – if he doesn’t make it all the way to Margate, the swim will go down as a DNF (Did Not Finish). The pressure is still well and truly on.
Swimming with sharks
“Today, Scotland decided to spring a little bit of a surprise on me,” says Ross, having spent the morning swimming alongside a shark. “I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about sharing the swimming pool with a basking shark,” he admits, before getting back in the water.
A bigger concern, however, are the orcas: “It’s the killer whales that I’m not comfortable with,” says Ross. “I’m trying to make myself look as unappetising as possible,” which includes growing a beard and not washing for 82 days. “I can’t imagine that anything in the sea is looking at me going: I’ll order one of those.” Watch footage of the shark from 06:40-08:24.
10 min
Shock Encounter with a Shark – Ross Edgley's Great British Swim Ep14
The top of Scotland is gnarly. Its harsh waters have not only hampered Ross' output, but delivered him a giant shark. Now he's preying the area's famous Orca isn't waiting for him around the corner.
World Record No.3: Lands End to John O’Groats
When he reaches John O’Groats, Ross realises that he’s smashed yet another world first: covering 1,448km (900 miles) in 62 days, he’s now the fastest person on the planet to swim from Land's End to John O’Groats. As ever, Ross is ridiculously modest about his feat: “it honestly feels amazing, but it was never really our intention. The pace and speed that we set was just necessary to try and get all the way around Great Britain in the weather window.”
Ross becomes the fastest person to swim from Land's End to John O’Groats
© Harvey Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
September
Crossing the Moray Firth with the Matadors
Ross swims 06.6km (60 miles) across Scotland’s gruelling Moray Firth, racing against time before dangerous easterly gales set in. Falling into a pattern of 'eat, swim, sleep, repeat', he spends more time swimming than sleeping. Parts of the crossing were brutal: “There was no foreplay, it was just straight into waves,” says Ross.
In a moment of respite, he’s treated to a private air show from the Red Bull Matadors to mark his 100th day at sea. “What a way to celebrate your swimming century. I’m not going to forget that in a hurry,” says Ross.
The Red Bull Matadors mark Ross's 100th day at sea
© Jeff Holmes/Red Bull Content Pool
Storm Ali halts the Great British Swim
When a major weather system, Storm Ali, batters the east coast of Scotland, Ross and the team are forced to take refuge in Dunbar. “It's just come at the worst time,” says Ross. “I’d rather swim in the middle of a hurricane right now than sit in the harbour.” They attempt to make a break for it, but, with a Force 11 storm warning on the way, Ross finds out that he can’t compete with Mother Nature and starts to realise how his attitude has mellowed since starting the swim.
Swimming back into England
“The Great British Swim is back in English waters and it feels amazing,” says Ross, after passing a group of jellyfish guarding the border. The start of the home stretch, this moment feels bigger for Ross than getting to John O’Groats. It’s a day of celebration for the entire team. “Maybe I’ll have two puddings tonight,” declares Ross.
Light at the end of the tunnel
© Craig Maddison/Red Bull Content Pool
October
Ross swims past his home county
It’s a personal celebration for Ross when he swims past his home county of Lincolnshire. But success is never completely sweet on the Great British Swim: to get there he has to contend with ships and murky waters in the Humber Estuary, another major shipping channel.
With one hour max to get across, if he didn’t make it he’d “basically be playing chicken with a giant ship”. And the water was unlike anything he’s experienced so far: “It wasn’t just water, I think I was swimming in poo.” Watch the dart from 02:15-03:34.
12 min
That Wasn't Just Water – Ross Edgley's Great British Swim Ep21
This week, the Strongman Swimmer crosses into his home county of Lincolnshire – but not before navigating the murky waters of another busy shipping lane, with some unexpected surprises lying in wait.
Storm Callum arrives for Ross’s birthday
When another major weather system, Storm Callum, hits the east coast, the team take refuge once again. “Storm Callum is best described as Storm Ali’s bigger, angrier brother,” says Ross, who celebrates his 33rd birthday the day it arrives.
“If you’re gonna stop the Great British Swim for a storm, now’s a pretty good day,” says Ross, who spends the day wearing a Viking helmet. “I’m a year older, I’m a year wiser and I’m trying to practise being this chubby, old, wise sea Buddha,” he muses.
Taking on the Thames Estuary
Having ticked off the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, Ross re-enters Essex and prepares for the final push to Margate. With bad weather on the way, he realises that he’s going to have to fight for the finish, especially with the Thames Estuary yet to conquer. “Imagine an Arctic storm of Scotland fused with the water quality of the Humber, throw in big ships going across: that is the Thames Estuary,” says Ross.
The Thames Estuary proves a tricky obstacle during the final leg
© Olaf Pignataro/Red Bull Content Pool
November
World record No.4: First person to swim around Great Britain
On November 4, 2018, Ross completes his swim and becomes the first person to swim around the entire coast of Great Britain without once setting foot on land. Four hundred people brave the icy Kent waters to swim alongside Ross for the last half mile of his new World Record. Clambering ashore to the crowds on Margate beach, Ross arrives back to the exact point he set off from, 157 days earlier.
Final efforts in the final stretch in Margate
© Olaf Pignataro/Red Bull Content Pool
Friends and swimmers inspired by Edgley's attempt help him to the finish
© Olaf Pignataro/Red Bull Content Pool
After 157 days in the sea, Edgley walks towards his first steps on land
© Olaf Pignataro/Red Bull Content Pool
That's a wrap on the Great British Swim!
© Alex Broadway/Red Bull Content Pool
