The cold shoulder, and everything else

by Thor on Jul. 16th, 2007
in The Water Cycle, Weather and Climate

comments

Brrrrrrr: Lewis Gordon Pugh gets help getting back into a boat near the North Pole after his 19-minute swim in 29-degree waters. He made the swim to bring attention to global warming and climate change. (Photo from www.investecnorthpolechallenge.com)Don’t you hate it when you get into the shower and it’s a bit too cold? British adventurer Lewis Gordon Pugh has taken that feeling to a whole new level.

Sunday he swam for nearly 19 minutes in the Arctic Ocean over the North Pole. Water temperatures were 29 degrees (-1.8 Celsius) and have been verified as the coldest waters anyone has ever swum in.

Why did he do it? To bring more attention to the climate change crisis. After his Sunday swim, and warming up a bit, I imagine, he said: “I am obviously ecstatic to have succeeded but this swim is a triumph and a tragedy -- a triumph that I could swim in such ferocious conditions but a tragedy that it’s possible to swim at the North Pole.

“It was frightening,” he continued, as reported on his project’s website. “The pain was immediate and felt like my body was on fire. I was in excruciating pain from beginning to end and I nearly quit on a few occasions. It was without doubt the hardest swim of my life.

In setting the new cold-water swimming record, Pugh broke his own record, which he set in 32-degree water off the coast of Antarctica.

Average: