Danny completes swim of 13 lakes
Lake District challenge of 45 miles
A LECTURER at Loughborough University has smashed the existing record for the fastest ever time to swim the full length of all 13 lakes in the Lake District.
Dr Danny Longman, physiology lecturer joining Loughborough this month specialising in human adaptation to extreme endurance challenges, swam a total of 71km (45 miles) in 3.5 days.
Together with his friend Tom Elliot, who unfortunately did not complete the challenge, the challenge even tougher by choosing to cycle rather than drive between each of the lakes. This added 200km of cycling to the challenge.
During the four days, Danny endured sleepless nights due to stomach problems, had to climb barbed wire fences to access the extreme ends of each lake, and slept in his campervan an average of three hours a night, which was driven by his dad Pete, who supported the challenge.
The longest lake, Windermere, was saved until the final day. Danny completed the 17.7km lake in 5hr 50 minutes.
Danny said: “This challenge was relentless. From the moment we finished swimming the length of one lake, we were preparing to cycle to the next one. The driving rain and cold winds often made it tough to warm up while on the bike between swims.
“A particular highlight for me was Coniston. I had been on the verge of vomiting all day because of a stomach bug I had picked up, so I wasn’t looking forward to this 9.5km lake at the very end of a draining day. About halfway down the sun came out, revealing the mountains behind the pinewoods on the lake’s bank. It was stunning. The feeling of the sun’s warmth on my back was fantastic, and powered me to the end.
“Finishing Windermere (17.7km/11 miles) on the final day was bittersweet. On the one hand I was thrilled to have set a new fastest known time for this ultra-endurance challenge. This was especially the case after having surgery earlier in the year to reattach a ruptured pectoral muscle.
“But the first person I saw on the bank was my team mate Tom, who, unknown to me, had had to withdraw during Windermere. It would have been fantatsic to have finished with him. Tom is a fantastic swimmer, a great team mate and he put a lot of effort into planning the logistics of this challenge.
“I’d really like to thank the incredible support team which included my dad Pete, my team mate Tom Elliott and my sponsors Huub, Dryrobe and Tent Meals.”
This challenge follows Danny’s previous exploits in breaking seven official Guinness World Records for rowing across the Arctic Ocean and completing an unsupported cycle of the length of Latin America.