Lewis Gordon Pugh (35) has swam in the Arctic Ocean wearing nothing but a Speedo and swimming cap. In December 2005, he takes on the Antarctic.
The maritime lawyer is based in London, having studied law at the universities of Cape Town and Cambridge. Nicknamed Ice Bear, Lewis' father was a Royal Navy surgeon and historian. The family moved from Plymouth to South Africa when he was 10 years old. Cape Town was his introduction to the sea. At the age of 17, Lewis swam from Robben Island to Cape Town. Afterwards, he planned bigger and colder swims. Lewis was the first person to swim around Cape Agulhas. In 2003 he completed the first swim in the Barents Sea when he swam around North Cape, Europe's most northern point. Last year he swam the entire length of the 204km long Sognefjord, Norway's longest fjord, in an epic feat that took him 21 days to complete. National Geographic filmed the swim for a documentary entitled The Legend of the Fjord. Last year he swam around the Cape Peninsula, a distance of some 100km, to raise funds for HIV/AIDS orphans in South Africa.In August 2005 he broke his own world record for the most northern swim when he completed the first swim in the Artic Ocean. Lewis swam 1km at the most northern point of the island of Spitsbergen, just 1,100 kilometers from the North Pole. The swim, in water of 3C, took 20 minutes and 30 seconds. A team of armed Norwegians on an accompanying boat kept him safe from polar bears and walruses, while UCT Sports Science Institutes Professor Tim Noakes monitored his heart rate as part of a research project.
