An American professor has completed the lung-bursting feat of swimming the entire length of Loch Lomond - in just 12 hours.
Michael Johmann, from Louisville, Kentucky, made the swim from Ardlui to Balloch in 12 hours and 3 minutes.
He decided that he wanted to swim Loch Lomond after finding out that there were very few success stories, unlike the English Channel, which he swam back in 2014.
There have been less than 90 full length crossings of Loch Lomond recorded in the history books.
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The professor at the University of Louisville told Glasgow Live: "This was an opportunity to capture two records—the first American male to complete Loch Lomond and the oldest swimmer overall.
"I pretty much knew what to expect from previous Loch and lake swims, such as Windermere, Tahoe in California/Nevada and a truly gruelling 28 miler at Flathead Lake in Montana last year. But every swim is different.
"On a Loch such as Lomond, the weather and wind are changing constantly and once a crossing has started you have to take what the Loch gives. There’s no getting on the boat and waiting for a storm to pass.
"Once you enter the water, you either swim to the end, come what may, or you tap out and maybe have to wait another year for another chance. Hats off to a great crew and pilot for seeing me through.
"Boat captain Chris Sifleet and her team of kayakers and spotters kept me well fed and upbeat throughout.
"Feeds and drinks every 30 minutes after the first hour. Kayakers Julie and Craig kept me straight on course despite some tricky winds at times and some cross-currents in the final mile."
Michael also couldn't resist tying his name to a Loch as famous as Lomond.
He added: "The swims that attract me most are those with great scenery, great history and a great challenge. Lomond is all three. Hard to imagine more beautiful scenery coming down from Ardlui to the south.
"Lomond is also a storied loch in song and Scottish history. Attaching my name to such a place and its swimming tradition was irresistible."
Michael's preparation for the swim was intense, but made much easier by the clear empty water.
He said: "For a swim of this length, I knew I would have to train on a par with the kinds of preparations I had made for Tahoe and Windermere, as well as the English and Catalina Channels.
"That meant up in the morning by 4am, in the water by 5am and, as the weeks drew closer, training sessions that started at five miles a day and up to five miles a day by mid-July.
"Back home in Louisville a typical week would see me doing up to 30 miles, a mix of pool trains and open water in the Mighty Ohio River, often against current. The Ohio is one of the world’s great rivers but it is also very much a working river, with barges and tugs and riverboats of all kinds making for some challenging, even dangerous conditions at times.
"In that sense, Loch Lomond was a relief—good clean water, relatively little traffic until later in the day, and I could leave all the navigation to Chris and her team. All I had to do was keep turning my shoulders over. What could be better than that?"
Even so, a swim of that length is knackering no matter how much training is involved. Coming to the end was a relief for Michael, who says he was unable to physically walk out of the water.
Michael said: "Coming into the last mile I kept sighting of the Cameron House Hotel, because in the days before the swim I’d done various training sessions that took me out as far as the Hotel’s buoy.
"I kept thinking, if I can just make it to that buoy, I know I can make the last half mile. In reality I was already running on fumes and it seemed to take for ever just to reach the buoy, much less the last half mile.
"By that point my kayaker was shouting directions at me to aim for the slipway next to the Maid of the Loch paddle steamer currently under reconstruction but I had very little in the way of direction left and made the slipway by luck more than aim.
"I’ve always wanted a grand exit from the water with an audience and for once there really was an audience cheering me on to the finish. Unfortunately my legs had cramped up terribly and I couldn’t even manage to stand on my own. Walking out of the water was out of the question.
"So I managed to scoot myself up the slipway on my backside until I was clear of the water. Not a very elegant exit. But once I was clear of the Loch, members of my crew were free to help me onto my feet.
"As they say, any landing you can walk away from is a good one. It was good to feel land again after 12 hours as a fish. Won’t lie though—after a quick towel-off, the team had me back to my hotel and after a good hot shower I was bundled up in bed.
"It took everything I had and more."
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