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British Swimmer Sets Icy Antarctic World Record

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 09:50 CST

CAPE TOWN -- Extreme swimmer Lewis Pugh has set a new world record for the most southerly long-distance swim, conquering the icy Antarctic waters at 65 degrees south, his research team said on Tuesday.

The 0.6 mile swim follows just months after a record Arctic swim, making the British solicitor the first person to accomplish such a feat in both the world's coldest seas.

"As soon as I dived in, I had a screaming pain all over my body," he said in a statement from a Canadian-Norwegian expedition ship in the Antarctic seas.

Sporting only a swimsuit, cap and goggles, Pugh took less than 19 minutes to complete the swim near Vernadsky, the Ukrainian scientific base on Antarctica, in water of 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and heavy snow.

"I am not sure how I kept on going for so long. I had to concentrate all the time and swim as fast as I could to keep the cold out," he said.

Pugh, who trained for months in an icy plastic pool in Cape Town's harbor, has astounded scientists with his ability to raise his body temperature before swimming, allowing him to survive temperatures that only a few can endure.

"When he enters the water, his core body temperature is extremely high (38.4 degrees Celsius) and he is able to maintain this temperature for up to 15 minutes in ice cold water," said leading South African sports scientist Tim Noakes.

"To my knowledge, this capacity has not been previously described."

Source: REUTERS

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