Ross Edgley reveals epic 510 km swim took 62 hours
The endurance adventurer Ross Edgley has revealed his record-breaking 510 km continuous swim down the Yukon river took 62 hours – and reveals graphic photos of the toll on his body.
The endurance adventurer Ross Edgley has revealed his epic 510km swim down the Yukon river took 62 hours – and shared graphic photos of the toll on his body.
That time works out to a pace of a staggering 8.2 km per hour – though naturally will allow for some assistance from the flow of the river.
To give that some perspective, in the Tokyo Olympics the 10 km marathon open water swim was won by Florian Wellbrock of Germany, in a time of 01:48:33!
During the swim, Edgley did not sleep or touch land as it was a continuous attempt. Water temperatures also dropped as low as 9°C, which would have made the challenge even more gruelling.
Edgely completed the challenge in the Yukon River, leaving Whitehorse on Lake Laberge on Sunday 16th June, and finishing in Dawson City on Wednesday 19th June.
No stranger to hardship
As well as the cold, we’re told that Edgley and his team had to manage external factors such as bears, wolves, white water rapids, log jams and even forest fires.
With all Edgley’s challenges it’s the physical toll on his body that generates a lot of interest though (who remembers ‘salt tongue’ from The Great British Swim?!) and a photo shared of his feet today leaves no doubt that this was a tough one!
Ross commented, “The success of this swim feels especially significant given it is pioneering research into the body’s ability to overcome sleep deprivation, freezing water and so many more factors.
“The sheer number of hours, days, months and years we have devoted make the record feel unique and I cannot wait to celebrate with my team” Ross is supported by Science in Sport and PhD Nutrition and will be featuring in a documentary on Disney+ and National Geographic later in the month.
Helen Webster
Editor, 220 Triathlon 
