Lewis Gordon Pugh

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Lewis Gordon Pugh (born 5 December 1969) is a swimmer, polar explorer and motivational speaker. He was the first person to complete a long distance swim in both the Arctic and the Antarctic and the first person to complete a long distance swim in all 5 oceans of the world (Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, Arctic and Southern). Over a period of 2 decades he has pioneered more swims around famous landmarks than any other swimmer in history.

Pugh was born in Plymouth, England the son of Surgeon Rear Admiral P.D Gordon Pugh, OBE. His family moved to South Africa when he was 10 years old and at the age of 17 had his first real swimming lesson. One month later he swam from Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned) to Cape Town and shortly thereafter he swam the English Channel. He read law at the University of Cape Town and Jesus College, Cambridge and worked as a lawyer in the City of London before pioneering swims in some of the coldest and most hostile waters of the world.

He was the first person to swim around Cape Agulhas (the most southern point in Africa), North Cape (the most northern point in Europe), the Cape of Good Hope (off Cape Town) and the Cape Peninsula (a 100 kilometre swim from Cape Town to Muizenberg). He was also the first person to swim down the entire length of Sognefjord (in Norway) a 204 kilometre swim which took him 21 days to complete.

Pugh was the first person to swim across an African Great Lake, namely Lake Malawi. He held the fastest time for swimming around Robben Island and won the gold medal in the 500 metre freestyle against Russian swimmers at the 2006 World Winter Swimming Championships in Finland. He holds the world record for the most northern long distance swim for a 1 kilometre swim he undertook at 80° North at the most northern point of Spitsbergen, barely 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole. He also holds the world record for the most southern long distance swim at 65º South for a 1 kilometre swim he undertook at Petermann Island off the Antarctic Peninsula.

Most recently, Pugh became the first person to swim the entire length of the River Thames. He undertook the swim in conjunction with the World Wide Fund for Nature to raise awareness about the problems of global warming and the dangers of climate change. The 325km swim took him 21 days to complete. Whilst swimming through London, Pugh exited the water and made a highly publicised visit to Tony Blair at No. 10 Downing Street to discuss the issue. He was recently appointed as an ambassador for the WWF.

February 11, 2007 the BBC World Service radio program reported on and interviewed Pugh. The BBC reported Pugh's intention to swim the full length of the Maldives atoll chain in the Indian Ocean. The BBC followed the story with an audio interview where Pugh stated his motivation. Pugh's official web site states his new expedition begins February 17, 2007.

Pugh lives and works in London.