The last time Lewis Pugh was in America, he had just completed a 507 km 32-day stage swim during the Hudson River in New York and then he addressed the United Nations as its Patron of the Oceans.

He was swimming to help attract attention to the importance of keeping rivers clean.

Today, he began another stage swim – albeit shorter in terms of distance and duration – around Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

Between May 15th – 26th, he plans to swim approximately 10 km per day attempting The Shark Swim, a 12-day stage swim around  Martha’s Vineyard. The swim coincides with the 50th anniversary of the movie Jaws to highlight the perilous plight of sharks around the world.

As with all his swims, Pugh follows up with keynote addresses and speeches around the world, including attendance at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France in June, the 50th Jaws anniversary on June 20th, the UN General Assembly in New York City in September, the COP30 in Brazil in November, and CITES in Uzbekistan in December.

Read Pugh’s thoughts on the plight of sharks here. He succinctly says, “I’m frightened of sharks, but more terrified of a world without them.”

A non-continuous stage swim around the island was called Swimming Around the Vineyard and completed by Dean Bragonier who did a 27-stage swim that began in July 2015 in segments with two days swimming and one day off.

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

A World Open Water Swimming Federation project.