In October 2022, endurance swimmer and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh became the first person ever to swim across the Red Sea, a staggering 123 km journey that took 16 days.
However, it was not the first time the maritime lawyer turned renowned oceans advocate pushed his body to the limit. For over two decades, the 53-year-old Briton has undertaken one daring swim after another, including expeditions along the length of the English Channel, in the Arctic, and in the Antarctic Ocean, earning him the moniker the Human Polar Bear.
In 2014, he became the first person to swim the world's Seven Seas. Pugh’s highly publicized endurance swims are fueled by a desire to shine a spotlight on the damage done to the world’s oceans and seas by human-induced climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Through his astonishing athletic feats, which have been dubbed “protest swims,” Pugh has urged world leaders to fully protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030.
This month, Pugh celebrates his 10-year anniversary as UNEP’s Patron of the Oceans. We spoke to him about the origins of his love for the ocean, what keeps him motivated, and his next great swim.
Your daring, long-distance swims in some of the most treacherous waters in the world have been called "protest swims.” What motivates you to do what you do?
Lewis Pugh (LP): In the 36 years that I have been swimming in the oceans, I have witnessed alarming changes. I’ve witnessed glaciers and sea ice literally melt away. I began to see plastic pollution in remote areas thousands of miles from human habitation. I knew that if I wanted to draw people’s attention to what was happening, I would have to do something daring, and potentially life-threatening. It’s one of the reasons I do my cold-water swims in just a pair of swimming trunks, a cap and goggles.
Clearly, you have a profound love for the ocean. What was the genesis of that love?
LP: I was fortunate to spend the latter part of my childhood in Cape Town where two oceans meet. I started swimming as a teenager, in some of the roughest and most challenging waters on the planet – it’s known as the Cape of Storms for good reason. As I began swimming in more remote and extreme places, I never failed to be filled with astonishment at the beauty in the world’s oceans. The irony is that while they are so vast and so bountiful they are, at the same time, so vulnerable. The oceans used to seem too big for us to impact, but we now understand full well how our actions are affecting them – and how dangerous that is for the entire planet.
In October 2022, just before the UN Climate Conference (COP 27) in Egypt, you undertook one of your most challenging swims, traversing the Red Sea. Can you tell us a little about that 123km swim?
LP: Many people assumed that the Red Sea Swim would be among my easiest, because the water there is so warm compared to the polar swims I am known for. But warm water brought its own challenges over the long distance. It required a different kind of training. And while I swam over some of the most extraordinary (and precious) coral in the world, I also swam across a very busy shipping lane leading to the Suez Canal. When you swim in front of oncoming tankers and cargo ships you have to get your timing right!
And then there was the wind – for a 10-day period it blew constantly from the side, making swimming very challenging. And if that was not enough, there was the constant worry of sharks. Exhausting as this all was, it was all worth it to hear that, shortly after COP27, the Egyptian government heeded the call of our local partner HEPCA (Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association) and pledged to protect 2,000km of the Great Fringing Reef.
“Each swim that I do is strategically chosen to highlight a particular issue in a particular place at a particular time.”
You have been called an endurance swimmer and an environmental diplomat. But you have said in the past that you consider yourself a “storyteller.” What story are you telling the world?
LP: Each swim that I do is strategically chosen to highlight a particular issue in a particular place at a particular time. Each swim needs to be challenging, attention-grabbing, a world first, in order for people to pay attention. And each one has to be linked to a specific environmental outcome that the public can get behind as they follow our journey. In this instance, my team works closely with UNEP to help amplify the message. Of course, because I’m swimming in extreme or remote places, there are always natural phenomena that throw in unexpected challenges, be it a glacier calving that turns my swim route into an ice highway – Greenland, dangerous sharks – Southern Ocean, or leopard seals – the Ross Sea. The cold itself is always an adversary. And when you’ve been swimming in cold water for as long as I have, that chill never quite leaves you.
You’ve started your own foundation, the Lewis Pugh Foundation. What is the mission of the foundation and what are some of its major accomplishments so far?
LP: The foundation is about protecting our oceans for a peaceful and sustainable future. We advocate for marine protected areas, which we know to be one of the best ways to protect biodiversity, address pollution and combat the effects of climate change on our oceans. We have been instrumental in protecting over 2.2 million km2 of ocean – the size of western Europe. We also pioneered the call to protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030. So, we were delighted when this target was agreed by all nations in Montreal earlier this year. But increasingly, it’s not just the area of protection, but the level of protection, that is important. Less that 2 per cent of the world’s oceans are fully and properly protected. We have our work cut out for us.
You have been the UNEP Patron of the Oceans for 10 years as well as an advocate for UNEP’s Clean Seas campaign. What has that experience been like for you?
LP: I am always proud to wear the UNEP logo on my swim cap. UNEP represents 193 nations, the 8 billion people who live here and the 8 million different species that live on this wonderful Earth. Working with UNEP has been the privilege of my life. And my relationship with them has been invaluable in my environmental diplomacy work.
According to UNEP science, the world’s oceans and seas are in serious trouble from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. If you had the power to change one thing to save them, what would that one thing be?
LP: I would like to see full and proper protection for 50 per cent of the world’s oceans. Yes, I know that the target right now is 30 per cent but really that is just a starting point, a minimum target scientists have set if we have any hope of protecting the rich biodiversity of this planet. But of course, we cannot solve the climate crisis with just one thing. Everything is connected. And everyone is connected. We are all in this together, and we need to work together on multiple fronts to solve these issues. This is why working with UNEP is so rewarding.
What’s next for you? Anything you can share with us about your next great athletic and endurance feat?
LP: I always want my next swim to be harder than my previous one. And hopefully more inspiring. I will give you a hint: at the start of my upcoming swim there are bears and vultures, and at the end is one of the greatest cities in the world. Stay tuned.
The ocean is being degraded by human activities that harm marine life, undermine coastal communities and negatively affect human health. The United Nations Environment Programme promotes the protection and sustainable management of the world’s marine and coastal environments. Read about our work here.
