Madswimmer at 5,500m in the Himalayas – and Climbing Towards the Highest Open Water Swim in History

In 2015, famed South African adventurer Jean Craven [shown on upper left] led a Madswimmer team to set the highest high-altitude swim in history on Ojos del Salado that is located in the Andes Mountain on the Argentina-Chile border.

The Madswimmer record was subsequently broken by Australian Daniel Bull who swam up at 6,370 meters in the Andes in 2020.

But later starting on their climbing-swimming adventure to Nepal on April 19th, Craven, Deniz Kayadelen, Vanes-Mari du Toit, Neo Mokuene, Dr. Chiara Baars, Sean Disney, and Thufayl Ali are within days of an attempt to break Bull’s record.

The Madswimmer group has steadily climbed upwards to 6,400 meters (20,967 feet) above sea level at Phuta Himchuli in the Himalayas. As expected, they have faced icy weather and low oxygen levels as they are currently in limited communications with their support team and families.

After three flights and an 18-hour-long Jeep ride against steep cliffs, the 7-person team supported by 18 Sherpas and 30 yaks started their ascent on April 25th in search of the highest swimmable venue on Mount Putha Hiunchuli. As of May 3rd, they have already spent 10 days on the mountain and have reached an altitude of 5,500m (18,045 feet) above sea level with a ton of equipment and food. The mountain’s highest point is 7,246m (23,772 feet) above sea level.

Their ascent depends on everyone’s health, fitness, and physiological adaptation to their environment. Sometimes, they have stay longer at certain altitudes to acclimatize.

Team leader Craven says, “Team members were chosen carefully, but also in a way that others can see that you don’t have to be a specialist to conquer your own metaphorical mountains. The secret sometimes lies in stepping out of your comfort zone to do something beyond the ordinary to make a difference.”

Other than guide Sean Disney, no one is a mountaineering specialist. Only Craven and Kayadelen are experienced swimmers.
“Team members have proven themselves in other areas as people who can function outside their comfort zones, and therefore agreed to take on this expedition, which falls outside their personal specialist fields and comfort zones. We South Africans are tough and have enough courage to do great things for our neighbours and for our country. If each of us, right where we are, push ourselves a little harder, we can achieve a lot. We hope to set an example of what can be done with a new Guinness World Record for South Africa.”

The swim has dual aims:

to raise awareness about climate change – that is causing pools of water being created in the Himalayas.
to help improve children’s lives

The fundraising will benefit the Universitas Hospital’s Oncology Unit for Teens and the Red Cross Children’s Hospital. The team aims to raise R1 million. Upon arrival at their first Base Camp, the team also distributed windbreaker jackets to 75 Nepalese children.

Contributions can be given here: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/swimming-the-himalayas-2024.

Kayadelen sent the following message via satellite SMS from 4,830m altitude on Day 10, May 2nd during a windstorm in Basecamp: “Today we hiked for 10 hours to 4830m above sea level. It was freezingly cold. We could feel the effects of high altitude creeping in: quick exhaustion, shortness of breath. We walked on high cliffs, untouched territory, mountains all around us, step-by-step finding the best route to swim at 6400m. That night, my whole body was in pain. It was difficult to swallow my food and at the same time trying to breathe with less oxygen. At night, there was a wind storm. Our toilet tent collapsed. It was -15°C. The next day there were rocks falling from the mountain. Experienced sherpas helped us to quickly move out of the way. I realise we learn so much in survival mode. We have to trust our process, each other, the sherpas. The team is great. We have each others’ backs. This helps us to continue to move forward towards our mission of the highest swim and to make a difference in children’s lives.”

The rest of the schedule is as follows:

Day 10-14 • Arrive and rest at base camp: duration of the rest will depend on the weather conditions while the sherpas depart on a 3-day logistics trek to set up the next camp.
Day 15 • Nearing the goal: daunting hike up steep slopes and knee-deep powder snow alternate with slippery ice fields as the air becomes thinner.
Day 16 • The trek to camp 2 and the swimming location: hike off the normal track to locate the highest swimmable lake in the world
Create a swimmable venue: water in the area may be frozen so team will open part of the thinnest ice sheet and try to keep it from refreezing.
Safety first: after the swim venue is prepared, all preliminary measures will proceed and the water temperature is measured, and the quality is tested to ensure it is safe.
Getting ready: each swimmer will be kept warm in a tent until it is their turn. Hot chocolate helps increase body warmth before the ice-cold plunge, so maintaining focus and calming the nerves is crucial at this point.