First man swims North Pole

Update: I forgot to mention that Pugh performed his feat as a dramatic statement about global warming. I certainly think he made his point, too. Without question, he would not have been able to pull off this feat 30 years ago, maybe even 20, but the North Pole has warmed up to the point that it's tolerable to a human with pretty fantastic abilities.

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I found these photos today, and they're pretty unreal. Briton Lewis Pugh has become the first human to swim the waters of the North Pole, in nothing more than a Speedo. Brrr. I cannot even imagine would it would feel like to swim in water that is -1.8 degrees Celsius (28.75 degrees Fahrenheit). No, that's not a typo - the water is that cold without freezing because of its salt concentration.

Here are some of the pictures that I downloaded from the article about Pugh in the Daily Mail...

I flat out love this picture - obviously taken with a fisheye lens. It's an amazing shot of Pugh jumping into the frigid waters for his swim, wearing nothing special; no gimmicks, no gadgets, no nothing, other than a Speedo. He even eschews the traditional goose grease so his team can pull him from the frigid water in case he develops hypothermia. (I'd love to know what Goose Grease is - it doesn't sound very appealing.)

Here's Pugh going for a swim in water I cannot even begin to comprehend. An average human would probably freeze to death in under four minutes in waters this cold, but Pugh uses a variety of techniques to survive such conditions, including a mind coach. Through mind-altering techniques, he raises his pulse from 70 to 160 beats per minute, and his core body temperature from 37C (98.6F) to 38.4C (101.12F), which makes him sweat profusely. That sounds about right - according to the article in the Daily Mail, an average person has to run for a half an hour on a treadmill to get the same results.

Pugh emerges from the frigid water. His little dip caused his core temperature to drop to 36.5C (97.7F), and 20 minutes later it dropped to 35C (95F) before he recovered with the help of a warm shower.

I think Pugh is amazing, and this isn't the first time he's accomplished some pretty amazing feats. He is the first person to swim 1k in the Antarctic Ocean, and he holds over 20 swimming endurance records, including swimming the whole length of the Thames River, the first to swim the length of the world's longest fjord and first to swim round the most northerly point of Europe.

Describing swimming in frigid water, Pugh explained his technique and what happens this way: "Before I get in, my body feels like a furnace. I become very aggressive, and my surroundings seem to slow down. Then I hurl myself in," said Push. "At first, you experience massive hyperventilation. Controlling this is extremely difficult."

Kudos, Lewis. I need a cup of hot chocolate just looking at these photos.