After Dr. Mariam Saleh Binladen (@mariamsalehbinladen) from Saudi Arabia and Andy Donaldson (Scotland, 34, MSF bio here, @andy.swimming) completed a 25 km tandem swim around the World Islands in 10 hours 41 minutes in February, they started to dream of bigger and more challenging swims.
Tomorrow, they will start realizing their latest dream: an unprecedented 170 km four-person relay around Bahrain together with 2016 Olympian Fatema Al Mahmeed (World Aquatic bio here) and 26-year-old Red Bull professional triathlete Abdulla Attiya, both from Bahrain.
The quartet will each swim 3-hour legs, rotating from the start at 4:00 am to the finish at Sofitel, Zallaq in Bahrain.
They will swim counterclockwise on their circumnavigation swim that is expected to take at least 60 hours. They will be escorted by over 20 support crew members in the 24°C water.
Donaldson said, “There’s a fairly large support crew out there, including the Bahraini Coast Guard as well as Jay Prchal, Eric Watson, and Volodymyr Tkachenko. The waters are very clear with marine life expected on the eastern side of the island, including sea snakes and marine life although the probability of sharks and barracuda encounters are fairly low. Whatever happens, I’m confident in the team that we’re ready and prepared.
The forecast is looking good with winds of mostly under 10 knots over the next few days.
Challenges may be surface chop if the wind picks up, warm temperatures of over 30°C, sun exposure during the day, prolonged salt exposure, and tidal currents. The currents can run up to 2 km per hour with currents push north on rising tide, and south on a falling tide, with tides changing every 6 hours so we’ll spend sections of the island swimming against the tide.“
Fatema Al Mahmeed started the relay on the first leg in the dark at 4 am this morning with Andy Donaldson, Dr. Binladen, and Abdulla Attiya following on their 3-hour legs.
Sea Snakes
While jellyfish has appeared during their first legs on the western coast of Bahrain, the greater fear is yet to come. As the quartet rounds the eastern coast of Bahrain, they expect to see sea snakes. Wearing wetsuits should help if there are any sea snake encounters.
They may see elegant sand snakes that are adapted for swimming in the water with flattened tails that act like paddles, allowing them to move efficiently and quickly through the water,, up to 16 km per hour, with .enlarged, grooved teeth near the back of their upper jaws. When sand snakes bite their prey, mild venom flows down the grooves and into the wound, although, their bites are rarely serious for humans.
Hardwicke’s racers are also good swimmers that move through water through undulation, but they flee when approached by humans. Annulated sea snakes are excellent swimmers. They spend their entire lives in the ocean and are highly adapted for swimming with paddle-shaped tails, and a unique ability to breathe through their skin, allowing them to remain submerged for extended periods.
Annulated sea snakes, also called black-backed or blue sea snakes, inhabit the water surrounding Bahrain, but usually around reefs, sandbars or sea grass and they usually flee humans, although they have highly toxic venom. The venomous yellow sea snakes usually stay within a few kilometers of the shore, but sometimes they swim far out at sea as they drift in areas of calm water, but they are reluctant to bite.
Livestream on YouTube
The livestream, probably for the next 50 – 60 hours is posted here.
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