Milko van Gool of the Netherlands has lived an incredibly interesting life.
He has served mostly as a diplomat in postings in Central Asia and Africa where he seized opportunities to engage in many lesser-known and out-of the way swims when he could.
He talked with International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame chairperson Ned Denison about his professional and marathon swimming career here.
This year during the summer of 2024 at the age of 58, he completed a series of Celtic swims. All his swims took place in or finishing in one of the Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
- July 15th, he swam from Baltimore to Fastnet in Ireland in 5 hours 16 minutes, setting a new overall course record
- July 23rd, he swam across Galway Bay in 3 hours 13 minutes, achieving the Irish Triple Crown.
- On July 31st, he became the fifth person to complete the Dál Riata Channel Swim between Scotland and Northern Ireland in 9 hours 19 minutes to become the third person to achieve the Irish Grand Slam of Open Water Swimming
- On September 13th, he swam the Bristol Channel from Glenthorne to Porthcawl in a new overall course record of 6 hours 20 minutes to achieve the Original Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, setting a new aggregate time record
Listen to the 28-minute interview here.
© 2024 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.