Ross Edgley set off on Margate Beach in the southeast of the UK on June 1st, becoming the first human to swim around the island completely. On Sunday he has reached Margate again - and thus achieved his goal. The 33-year-old Edgley managed the 2883-kilometer route in 157 days.
In the planning he had expected from about 100 instead of 157 days. High waves, currents, cold and 37 encounters with jellyfish, however, made the record attempt difficult. Edgley swam clockwise around the clock for up to twelve hours a day in the UK, sleeping on a companion boat. He ate a total of more than 500 bananas, according to the BBC.
On Sunday, after five months on the ground, he was back on solid ground for the first time, greeting his family and hundreds of spectators on the beach, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm too late." The cheerful swimmer told the British media that he is very shaky on his feet and suffers from shoulder pain.
Swimmer Ross Edgley completes epic 1,780-mile journey around Britain.
The extreme athlete's tongue started to disintegrate because of the seawater as he swam up to 12 hours a day on the challenge.
For more on Ross Edgley's epic swim, head here: https://t.co/lT5nUYcMcJ pic.twitter.com/WcN1NetW9n
With his swim tour, the 33-year-old is likely to be an entry in the Guinness Book of Records - it would be according to dpa his third. In 2016, he completed a marathon and pulled a small car behind him. In addition, he climbed ropes until he reached the height of Mount Everest (8848 meters) after 19 hours.
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Guinness World Records