A British man is hoping to wake up politicians in Canada and around the world to the threat of climate change by completing a kilometre-long swim in open water at the North Pole.
"I don't think anyone has ever done a swim in -1.8-degree water in a Speedo," said Lewis Gordon Pugh, who has already completed epic swims in waters from the Antarctic to the Indian Ocean. "
ultimately, this is a political swim."
Mr. Pugh, speaking from northern Norway where he is training in glacier-fed lakes, said he will ride up to the Pole in a Russian icebreaker.
On July 8, he will disembark and ski around until he and his team find the nearest stretch of open water that seems likely to stay open and is free of polar bears. Once he's found his swimming pool, Mr. Pugh will strip down to his bathing trunks, cap and goggles, and dive in. Mr. Pugh expects the swim to take a little over 20 minutes.
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