A while ago we here at our lovely school were joined by a rather inspiring man who seemed to spark a fury inside me. A fury to put my body to the test and just do it.
This man has that fury burning inside of him, and a spark that that is bigger than us all. His motivation to do what it is that he does is the fate of the little rock that we all call home. He was outraged that the polar ice caps were, and still are melting and toiled at what to do about it. He came to the conclusion that global awareness needed to be raised before anything could actually be done. And to do this, he said:
“I like swimming…let’s do a swim at the North Pole.” People laughed at him, said it couldn’t be done. Till he did.
Lewis Pugh is now known as the Human Polar Bear…and he swam one kilometer at 90 degrees North. Just to give you an idea of how cold this water is, you normally bath in water around 48 degrees Celsius, the ocean temperature in Florida is about 27 degrees Celsius, the sea at on the west coast of South Africa about 15 degrees. Water is at its most dense at 4.1 degrees Celsius…the water that Lewis swam one long kilometer in was -1.7 degrees C (that's between 28 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit). That is tooth shatteringly, ice-cream headachy, numb-bummingly cold. And he swam in a Speedo. After his talk he opened to the floor of adolescent boys shocked into silence by a man who had apparently gone completely bonkers and was trying to recruit. One lad pierced the silence with outstretched finger and a very matter of fact question: “Sir, why didn’t you wear a wetsuit if it was so cold?” He answered: “I want people to take me seriously, and make difficult decisions that may cost them a lot of money…it’s not as hard in a wetsuit, it’s not as serious either.”
Within twenty minutes of walking out of his speech, and feeling exceptionally motivated, I was in the pool with my good friend Kyle, ploughing through forty lengths. At length thirty two I thought to myself, being tired and this being our first swim of the season that thirty two lengths would do. But then my thought train was halted. Lewis Pugh would never have stopped, so neither did I.
I swim often now. There is a certain sense of freedom and serenity when you are slogging through the ripples of a dam or the white foam of the ocean. A sense that there is nothing else really that matters but the effort needed for the next stroke. It is a quiet time for me to think about the day and get my mind in line for the next.
People do different things to make a difference.
If you are in any way interested in what I have to say and are at all curious about this phenomenal man who risks turning into an ice cube for the good of the planet, check out his site: http://www.lewispugh.com/.
What have you done to help?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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1 comment:
Glad you were able to find inspiration somewhere. Personally, at this point, I rather side with those thinking he's bonkers to swim in such cold! That can't be good for your body...
Still, I respect what he's trying to do. Good luck to him. Now go swim more laps!
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