Round-Britain swimmer ‘feels like a trapped goldfish in a pool’

ROSS EDGLEY has said he now feels like a captive goldfish when he goes to the pool after becoming the first swimmer to circumnavigate Great Britain.

The 33-year-old, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, completed his 1,791-mile, 157-day Great British Swim on November 4 2018 in Margate, touching land for the first time since his departure from the Kent resort on June 1.

The adventure did not put him off swimming, though, as he swam again the day after completing his historic feat.

“It was amazing,” Mr Edgley said.“It was warm. It was very strange. I didn’t have to put a wetsuit on, there were no jellyfish. I was like a fish in a goldfish bowl. Even now I struggle to swim in a pool: I’m breathing and looking for the boat or the next headland.”

Mr Edgley’s odyssey was compared from the outset to the feat of Captain Matthew Webb, who in 1875 became the first person to swim the English Channel. Since Webb’s crossing, 1,900 others have swum the world’s busiest shipping lane; it is unlikely that many will follow Edgley, but he has been an inspiration.

Mr Edgley already had world records, prior to his swim.

In April 2016, he completed a rope climb equivalent to the height of Mount Everest in 19 hours, two months after taking on a marathon while pulling a car.

The next challenge must have a greater purpose than just chasing records, he says.

Mr Edgley will on March 23 take part in the Red Bull Neptune Steps event in Glasgow.

The event combines 400 metres of swimming in the Forth and Clyde Canal with seven climbs of the Maryhill Locks, by rope, ladder and climbing holds.

Mr Edgley will take part, but in an interactive way with participants, whose backgrounds and attributes vary. He has since lost 10kg (1st 8lbs) as he no longer has a daily intake of 15,000 calories to fuel 12 hours of swimming.

■ Participants can sign up for the Red Bull Neptune Steps in Glasgow on March 23 at www. redbull.com/gb-en/events/redbull-neptune-steps-uk.