Monday, May 20, 2024

Day Two with Ross Edgley in Mallorca: Another 50 km Planned After A Sleepless Night

After Ross Edgley swam 50,000 meters at Best Centre Sports in Colonia Sant Jordi on Mallorca, he experienced a sleepless night in a local hotel. “I didn’t sleep at all, but I tried to close my eyes.”

But like a trooper he is, Edgley showed up at 6:00 am and Day Two of his 7-day challenge began again.

After Olympic champion Maarten van der Weijden swam in the next lane and cheered Edgley from the pool deck, more and more locals and team members are joining in to support him in multiple ways.

His support team includes former Olympic coach Chris Morgan who took 100m splits throughout Day One…and will continue on through the week.

Photos above courtesy of Elle Jenkins.

Copyright © 2024 by KAATSU Global

Day One with Ross Edgley in Mallorca: A Most Enjoyable 50,000 Meters Swum

Spyros Chrysikopoulos set the Guinness World Record for the ‘Furthest Distance Swum in One Week in a 50m Pool” between May 9th and May 16th 2021.

As Ross Edgley figured this week at the Best Centre Sports complex in Colonia Sant Jordi on the most southern tip of Mallorca, why not make an attempt to break Chrysikopoulos’ existing 358.2 km record? If not now, then when? If not Ross, then who?

An attempt for this record requires a lot of logistical preparations, volunteers, passion and patience. On Day One, Edgley swam 50,000 meters, starting at 7:00 am and leaving the pool around 11:30 pm for a short sleep back at the hotel – and then he and his team will repeat that process day after day – with the hope to make a total of 7,164 turns off the walls along the way.

Steven Munatones commented, “Ross makes things so much fun. The smiles never seemed to stop, even though swimming 50,000 meters is tough. He never stopped thanking everyone for handing him water bottles or mixing his drinks or handing him food or spraying sunscreen on his back. Off the top of my head, I was trying to think of a Guinness World Record that is, frankly, more mentally taxing. At least in an open water environment, things can change all the time.

But this is swimming back and forth in a pool – all the time staring at a black line and breathing to the side – for hours and hours all morning, all afternoon, all evening long, day after day. It requires such a tremendous amount of self discipline.“

His support team includes Olympic coach Chris Morgan, Olympic swimmers from Maarten van der Weijden and Lauren Quigley, and open water swimmers Ger Kennedy and Thomas Kofler.

His observer team is documenting his swim by counting each lap and documenting every 100-meter split time.

Copyright © 2024 by KAATSU Global