Not content with breaking one world swimming record, Oly Rush, turbo-swimmer extraordinaire, aka the Human Fish, has made history by becoming the first person to swim round the Caribbean island of Grand Cayman.
The massive achievement that saw the Poole plasterer swim 60 miles, non-stop through shark-filled waters was anything but plain sailing.
Prior to flying out, he said he
realised it was a huge challenge and that sharks were consideration.
“We’re doing all we can to mitigate the risks,” he said. On the constant 27C temperatures he added: “I won’t have a wetsuit so will need to apply sun cream throughout and I’ll also have to take on water during the swim.”
Oly did it in the end, but boy did he earn his title.
“I got round but it was absolutely brutal,” says the clean-ocean campaigner whose swim was to raise money to fund his cause.
“It was so, so difficult. It took me to some very dark places and I literally wanted the ocean to swallow me up.”
The ocean failed to oblige and he completed the 95.5km swim in 36 hours and 59 minutes before walking from the sea to board an ambulance to be assessed then taken to hospital.
Oly, who has raised tens of thousands of pounds for environmental charities and was partnered by Plastic Free Cayman and Project Planet, is now a bit of celebrity on the island.
“I was never going to quit, but it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he admits.
“My food plan went out of the window after four hours and there were channels I had to swim through alone because the support kayaks couldn’t get through.”And the sharks?
“There were no major incidents during the swim, it was just extremely tough.
“I went to hospital mainly to address dehydration. “My tongue was so swollen I could hardly drink. The pain in my shoulders was pretty intense but after some strong pain relief I was able to settle down and rest.
Ever the eco-warrior, Oly said: “The important thing was to raise awareness about sea pollution and we’ve raised lots of money, too.
“It is too early to say what I’ll do next, but I’ll continue to raise awareness about sea pollution and no doubt when I get home I’ll be on beaches clearing them of plastics.”
Last year Oly swam around the Isle of Wight in a record time.
Visit his His Go Fund Me page at gofundme.com/f/bsywxj-charity-swim-around-grand-cayman?qid=3a6b5a71df5eaed21f1b1383b3f1ae25

by Lorraine Gibson