ROSS EDGLEY ON THE FINAL STRETCH

07th September, 2018

He aimed to swim around the coast of Great Britain in 100 days, and it’s now 97 days and counting, but is he stopping? No, he isn’t.

The brilliant, ebullient, epic and inimitable Ross Edgley swims on, now on the ‘final stretch’, if the whole east coast of Great Britain can be considered as a unitary thing.

‘I think I’ve become more mature,’ he says in his Week 15 VLOG. ‘When I started I was thinking as a young athlete: 20 miles a day, 100 days, BOOM. I was quickly humbled as a swimmer. Now I think a lot less like an athlete and a lot more like an adventurer, in that I know mother nature is not something that you can compete against, she’ll win every time’.

He’s unlike any other – any other adventurer, endurance athlete or vlogger… brilliant, ebullient, epic and inimitable. Watching him results in people having their spirits lifted and perception of what is possible shifted.

The last week (week 15) has seen Ross make it around the wild wild west of Scotland, around Cape Wrath and John of Groats, before the weather window of the Great British Summer closes.

‘When I started people said it can’t be done. On paper it makes no sense that the human body can survive this…’. But survive it he is (although, to see his feet on Instagram, only marginally). And changing our perceptions of what we can do as he swims. ‘This is not a way to spend your summer,’ he says, ‘but that’s the point’. A friend observed to him that by doing something so extreme he’s getting people to shift what they think is possible, and if we do that by even one degree, then he’ll ‘have served his purpose on this earth’.

Red Bull Content Pool

This is a community effort – so if you’re not already, follow Ross! Links below. He’s unlike any other – any other adventurer, endurance athlete or vlogger – and whether man, woman or child, watching him seems to result in people having their spirits lifted and perception of what is possible shifted. Red Bull are throwing a beach party to celebrate when the swim finishes and everyone who’s been following Ross is invited. Stand behind me if you want to give this man – when he finally touches land – a hug.

• Follow Ross’s progress and watch the weekly VLOGS on RedBull.
• On insta: @rossedgley.

Kate Rew, 7th September 2018

Pictured: Ross preparing for Cape Wrath with his captain, Matt Knight