British polar adventurer Lewis Gordon Pugh is out to break his own record and draw attention to the perils of global warming. Sporting just a cap, trunks and goggles, Lewis Gordon Pugh will swim 1 km (0.6 miles) in water at a temperature of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius on July 15, a dip he expects to last 21 minutes.

He will be swimming in freezing temperatures of minus 1.8¼ centigrade the coldest waters a human has ever swum in.

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He is quoted to have said:

I have chosen to swim. It’s my way of drawing attention to the oceans, and the fragile state of our nature.

I can’t think of a better way to show that climate change is a reality than by swimming in a place that should be totally frozen over. I hope it will ... put pressure on the leaders of the G8 summit to cut carbon emissions dramatically

Any normal person would hyperventilate, suffer extreme shock and drown within minutes of jumping into near freezing water, but Pugh (nicknamed the Polar Bear) is made of sterner stuff.

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In preparation for his swim, Pugh, 37, has increased his body weight from 87 kg to 105 kg by eating six meals a day, and has trained by swimming in a specially designed ice pool. Pugh will spend his last month of training at a Norwegian glacial lake with Jorgen Amundsen, a relative of Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole in 1911.

He was the first person to complete a long distance swim in both the Arctic and the Antarctic and the first person to complete a long distance swim in all 5 oceans of the world (Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, Arctic and Southern). Over a period of 2 decades he has pioneered more swims around famous landmarks than any other swimmer in history.

The efforts being made by Pugh, who is a lawyer and “ambassador” for the environmental group WWF are most commendable.

Source: Reuters