Breaking the Guinness World Record of Spyros Chrysikopoulos who swam 358.2 km in a 50m pool in one week (between May 9th and May 16th 2021) was never going to be easy.

Ross Edgley knew swimming 52 km per day was always going to require a massive lift, logistically, physiologically, psychologically, and emotionally.

His support team at the Best Centre Sports complex on the most southern tip of Mallorca did their best to help Edgley, but the effort all came down to his willingness to push himself beyond his already extraordinary standards.

But the 39-year-old from Grantham in East Midlands, England knew the depths of despair that he would eventually have to face.

Too Hot

Yesterday, under a blistering sun and bright sunny skies, the solar radiation and heat caused symptoms of heatstroke. During Day Three, his already deepened tanned skin became flush and he started to experience headaches. His team started to ice his upper body and make sure he was properly hydrated. He carried on, but he later became nauseous and felt like vomiting. His team got him out of the water and made him lay down with his feet elevated. When he cooled off and felt better, Edgley hopped right back in the water and immediately pushed off.

Every 100 meters has been filmed and timed so his team was impressed with his consistency of pace.

Despite his even splits performed hour after hour, his complaints and grimaces became more frequent. Edgley was always polite and always appreciative of his team and of fans that cheered him on, but pain was more and more clearly etched on his face. His shoulders was in pain. His tendons were inflamed. His right bicep was killing him. His skin become scorched. His tongue was parched and sore. His muscles were beyond fatigue. He was sleep deprived.

No Guts, No Glory

Edgley kept on going. He literally willed himself up and down the pool. His mindset was made up – and there is nothing stronger than a determined mind.

However, Spyros Chrysikopoulos had set an incredibly high bar.

Edgley knew that he had to push – harder than he has ever had to do before. It certainly was never going to be easy. Before the glory had to come a whole lot of guts.

It required swimming late into the night and starting well before sunrise – with only a few hours of sleep between. On Day One, he had swum 50 km, but by Day Three, his cumulative daily distance had dwindled to 40.4 km.

Too Cold

After a 4:30 am start on Day Four, he swam well for a solid two hours.

But then his body was showing major signs of breaking down. At a feeding stop, he began to shiver. A lot. His speech slowed. Only 12 hours previously, he experienced heatstroke – and now he was freezing cold. This fluctuation in weather conditions and his body’s feedback was frustrating. His drop in body temperature was preceded by a heavy downpour that rained down on the pool. The sudden rain in the darkness of the pre-sunrise hours after a day of blistering sun was too much to handle in the moment.

“I got to get out and get a shower,” admitted Edgley who started to shiver. “I am cold.”

Coach Chris Morgan offered additional relief, “Why don’t you go in the room [next to the pool] where we prepared a mattress, pillow, sleeping bags, and blankets for you? Close your eyes and get some much needed sleep.”

Edgley did not need much convincing. He felt his strength ebbing. He agreed to get out of the pool and headed to a small poolside office where he quickly slipped into the sleeping bag and put a wool hat on.

Morgan recalled, “He was talking to me, but right in the middle of his sentence, he just feel asleep – sound asleep. He quickly feel into a deep REM sleep. But he woke up 35 minutes to go – and we gave him a pile of bacon and sausages.

As he walked back to the pool, Neža Klančar gave him words of encouragement. The Olympic swimmer from Slovenia, one of the top sprinters in the world, had been visibly impressed with his resilience and determination that she had witnessed over the last three days. As Klančar was preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics with two hard workouts daily at the Best Centre Sports complex, she had seen Edgley repeatedly swim back and forth, starting well before her early morning workouts in the darkness and continue doing the same thing well after her second workout in the late afternoon.

Edgley responded, suddenly dropping his 100m split times down from an average of 1:47 to an occasional sub-1:40 and other low 1:40 splits.

Three days down. Four to go. And much more to follow.

Photos above courtesy of Elle Jenkins.

His observer team is documenting his swim by counting each lap and documenting every 100-meter split time.

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