Lewis Pugh


Lewis William Gordon Pugh, OIG, is a British-South African endurance swimmer and ocean advocate. Dubbed the "Sir Edmund Hillary of swimming", he is the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world, and he frequently swims in vulnerable ecosystems to draw attention to their plight.
Pugh is known for undertaking the first swim across the North Pole in 2007 with the aim of highlighting the melting of the Arctic sea ice. In 2010 he swam across a glacial lake on Mount Everest, to draw attention to the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas and the impact the reduced water supply would have on peace in the region. In 2018 he swam the full length of the English Channel to call for 30% of the world's oceans to be protected by 2030.
Pugh was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010 and the United Nations appointed him as the first UN Patron of the Oceans in 2013.
In 2016 Pugh played a role in creating the largest marine reserve in the world in the Ross Sea off Antarctica. The media coined the term "Speedo Diplomacy" to describe his efforts of swimming in the icy waters of Antarctica and shuttling between the US and Russia to help negotiate the final agreement on the reserve.
Pugh currently serves as an adjunct professor of International Law at the University of Cape Town.

Early life and family

Pugh was born in Plymouth, England, on 5 December 1969. His father, P.D. Gordon Pugh, was a surgeon in the Royal Navy, an author, and a prolific collector of ceramics of the Victorian era. His mother, Margery Pugh, was a Senior Nursing Sister in Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service.

Education and early career

Pugh grew up on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. He was educated at Mount House School in Tavistock. When he was 10 years old his family emigrated to South Africa. He continued his schooling at St Andrew's College in Grahamstown and later at Camps Bay High School in Cape Town. He went on to read politics and law at the University of Cape Town and graduated at the top of his Masters class.
In his mid-twenties he returned to England, where he read international law at Jesus College, Cambridge, and then worked as a maritime lawyer at Ince & Co in the City of London for a decade. During this time he concurrently served as a Reservist in the British Special Air Service.

Swimming

Over a period of 30 years Pugh has pioneered more swims around famous landmarks than any other swimmer in history. In an interview with Forbes he stated:

"Between Lynne Cox, Martin Strel and myself, we've hit all of the world's major landmarks. There's really nothing left."

In 2013 he was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.

Early swims

Pugh had his first real swimming lesson in 1986, at the age of 17. One month later he swam from Robben Island to Cape Town. In 1992 he swam across the English Channel. In 2002 he broke the record for the fastest time for swimming around Robben Island.
He was the first person to swim around Cape Agulhas, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Cape Peninsula. Pugh was also the first person to swim across an African Great Lake, namely Lake Malawi.

Cold water swims

After 2003 Pugh focused on pioneering swims in the coldest and most hostile waters of the world. All of them were undertaken in accordance with Channel Swimming Association rules, in just a pair of Speedo swimming trunks, cap and goggles. He became the first person to swim around the infamous North Cape, the northernmost point in Europe. The following year he became the first person to swim down the entire length of Sognefjord in Norway, a swim which took him 21 days to complete.
In 2005 he broke the world record for the farthest-north long-distance swim by undertaking a swim at 80° North around Verlegenhuken, the northernmost cape in Spitsbergen. He followed that five months later by breaking Lynne Cox's world record for the farthest-south long-distance swim by undertaking a swim at 65° South at Petermann Island off the Antarctic Peninsula.
In November 2017, Pugh became be the first person to swim in the Antarctic waters around South Georgia Island.

Anticipatory Thermo-Genesis

On both his Arctic and Antarctic expeditions Professor Tim Noakes, a sports scientist from the University of Cape Town, recorded Pugh's ability to raise his core body temperature by nearly 2 °C in anticipation of entering the freezing water. He coined the phrase "anticipatory thermo-genesis". This phenomenon had not been noted in any other human. Noakes argues it is a Pavlovian response to years of cold-water swimming, while Pugh believes it is a response to fear.

World Winter Swimming Championships

In 2006 Pugh challenged Russia's top cold-water swimmers to a 500-metre race at the World Winter Swimming Championships in Finland. He easily won the gold medal, beating Russian Champion Alexander Brylin by over 100 metres and the bronze medalist Nefatov Vladimir by 125 metres.

"Holy Grail" of swimming

In 2006 Pugh achieved the "Holy Grail" of swimming by becoming the first person to complete a long-distance swim in all five oceans of the world. His five swims were :

River Thames

In 2006, he became the first person to swim the entire length of the River Thames. He undertook the swim to draw attention to the severe drought in England and the dangers of global warming. The swim took him 21 days to complete. The upper stretch of the river had stopped flowing due to the drought, forcing Pugh to run the first of the river.
While swimming through London, Pugh exited the water and made a visit to Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street to call on the United Kingdom to move towards a low carbon economy. Shortly afterwards the Prime Minister introduced the Climate Change Bill to Parliament.

Maldives

In February 2007 Pugh became the first person to swim across the width of the Maldives. He undertook the swim to raise awareness about the effect of climate change on low-lying islands in the world. The swim took 10 days to complete.

North Pole

In July 2007 Pugh undertook the first long-distance swim across the Geographic North Pole. The swim, across an open patch of sea, in minus 1.7 °C water, took 18 minutes and 50 seconds to complete. Jørgen Amundsen, the great-grandnephew of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, paced Pugh by skiing alongside him during the swim.
The swim coincided with the lowest coverage of Arctic sea ice ever recorded.

Mount Everest

In May 2010 Pugh swam across Lake Pumori, a glacial lake on Mount Everest, to highlight the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas and the impact the reduced water supply will have on world peace. Millions of people from India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal rely on the water, which flows from the Himalayan glaciers. The swim, at an altitude of 5,300 metres, in 2 °C water, took 22 minutes and 51 seconds to complete.

The Seven Seas

In August 2014, Pugh undertook the first long-distance swim in all the Seven Seas to campaign for more Marine Protected Areas in the region. The swims took place in the following locations:
Afterwards Pugh wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times that he had "seriously underestimated the urgency" of the issue he undertook the swim for, noting that he saw "no sharks, no whales, no dolphins" and "no fish longer than 30 centimeters".

English Channel

In July and August 2018, Pugh swam the entire length of the English Channel – the second person ever to do so after Ross Edgley completed the feat a month before during his 1,780-mile circumnavigation swim around Great Britain. He left Land's End in Cornwall on 12 July and arrived in Dover on 29 August, after 49 days at sea. He swam between 10 and 20 kilometres each day in order to cover the distance. Pugh swam the 528 kilometres to call for 30% of oceans to be protected by 2030. He was greeted on landing at Shakespeare Beach by UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who described him as a "modern day hero" and a "brilliant champion for marine conservation zones".
Martha’s Vineyard swim for shark conservation
In May 2025, Lewis Pugh became the first person to swim around Martha’s Vineyard, covering 99.7 kilometres over 12 days in near-freezing waters to advocate for shark conservation. The endurance swim, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Jaws, aimed to shift public perception of sharks and highlight the ecological harm of their mass killing, which Pugh described as "ecocide." Although he admitted to fearing sharks, Pugh said he was "really frightened of a world without sharks." Beginning on 15 May, he swam multiple hours daily in 8 °C water, completing the swim on 26 May near the film’s original shooting location. He swam for approximately 24 hours in total and described the effort as one of the most difficult of his nearly 40-year career, citing cold temperatures, distance, and shark migration season, though he said severe weather was the greatest challenge. No sharks were sighted, but he reported seeing sunfish, seals, and terns along the way.