Extreme adventurer Ross Edgley is in hospital after enduring temperatures as low as 5C in a record breaking swim in Scotland. The 36-year-old began the challenge of breaking the record for the longest ever open water swim in Loch Ness on Wednesday.
He swam continuously without touching land or a boat for 52 hours and 39 minutes covering approximately 79km in the loch for a period of more than two days and nights.
On Saturday morning the ultra-marathon swimmer shared a photo on social media in hospital. He said: "Thank you SO much for all the kind messages of support. As you can probably tell the swim didn’t entirely go to plan.
"Will update properly later but wanted to publish a HUGE post of gratitude to everyone and say A GIANT thank you to my AMAZING support team."
Ross had been training for a year in preparation of the world's longest swim in support of ocean conservation, raising more awareness of preserving sea kelp forests in Scotland. The Grantham native also battled winds of up to 20 knots and long periods of overnight rain through the swim, and said it was "one of the biggest challenges" of his career.
The swim stopped at For Augustus on Friday afternoon, falling short of his original attempt to beat the world record for the longest ever open swim in tideless water.
The swim is currently in the process of being ratified by the British Long Distance Swimming Association.
Speaking to PA, he said: "It was one of the biggest challenges of my career physically and mentally, but the important purpose behind it really motivated me to push myself as far as I did and I'm so proud to have inspired people to make a difference.
"I wanted to thank everyone for their immense support and in particular the incredible hospitality I have received here in Scotland.
"The longer I've been working with Talisker and Parley the more I've learnt about sea kelp and how essential the preservation of these amazing sea kelp forests are."
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