Published 20:16 IST, January 27th 2020
British climate activist becomes first man to swim under Antarctic ice sheet
Lewis Pugh, a British swimmer and climate activist swam in freezing water under the Antarctica ice sheet to become the first man in recorded history to do so.
British man swam under the Antarctica ice sheet to become the first man in recorded history to do so. Lewis Pugh from Plymouth swam in the Antarctic river beneath the largest glacier on the placet only wearing swimming trunks, cap and goggles.
Spent eight minutes in freezing water
In recently released photographs, the 50-year-old swimmer can be seen swimming through a blue tunnel of ice, with melting ice falling around him. Media reports say that the water in which Pugh spent nearly eight minutes was only a few degrees above its freezing point. Previously, he tried swimming on January 20 and January 23. All his training swims are preparations for another 20-minute swim in freezing conditions later this week. The final swim will see Pugh attempting to become the first person ever to swim across and entire supraglacial lake which is a body of water formed on the surface of melting ice cap.
Elaborating on his experience to media, the swimmer described the ice sheets as one of the most beautiful places he has ever encountered. He added that the ice had all shades of blue before saying that it was vast, remote and beautiful. He went on to say that 33 years of training has allowed him to swim for those minutes and thanked a team of french mountaineers who helped him get into the crevice to swim.
In 2007, Pugh, a climate change campaigner and endurance swimmer became the first person to complete a long-distance swim across the geographic North Pole. He is also the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world. While talking to media, he also revealed that the 1 km crawl across the open patch of the sea was to highlight the melting of Arctic sea ice.
On the other hand, the Australian government has advertised 150 jobs for various positions at research stations on Antarctica to fill a big gap in the sector for the 2020-21 season. The jobs will require the applicants to make themselves available from four-month summer stints to 15 months. The positions are available in the areas ranging from chefs, carpenters, watercraft operator, medical practitioner, welder, electrician, plumber, and many more.
Updated 20:16 IST, January 27th 2020