Lewis Gordon Pugh: The Human Polar Bear Quiz

Answer: 1969

Lewis Gordon Pugh was born on December 5, 1969, in Plymouth, England. His father was Rear Admiral Gordon Pugh.

Answer: South Africa

When Lewis Gordon Pugh was 10 years old, he and his family moved to South Africa. It was there that he would have his first real swimming lesson at age 17.

Answer: 17

In May 1987, one month after his first swimming lesson, Lewis Gordon Pugh swam from Robben Island (where ex-President of South Africa Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life as a political prisoner) through to Cape Town; about 12 kilometers. The swim took him three hours to complete.

Answer: Law

Lewis Gordon Pugh started studying law at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and then moved onto studying law at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. He thereafter went on to work as a maritime lawyer in London for several years.

Answer: 4 hours and 10 minutes

In May 1991, swam a distance of 10km clockwise around Robben Island. This swim took him 4 hours and 10 minutes to complete. In 2004, he did the same route anti-clockwise, and finished with a time of 3 hours and 42 minutes, shaving almost half an hour off his previous record.

Answer: Otto Thaning

On January 5, 1992, Lewis Gordon Pugh and his friend, Dr Otto Thaning, became the first two people to swim across one of the Great African Lakes, Lake Malawi.

This 25km swim took them 9 hours and 52 minutes to complete. Pugh says of the swim: " Crocodiles and hippopotami inhabit the edges of the lake - so we made sure we swam VERY fast at the beginning and end of the swim!"

Answer: He was the 428th person to complete the crossing.

I admit, this was a truly horrible question... But I imagine it'll come in useful eventually ;). In August 1992, Pugh swam across the English Channel, from Shakespeare Beach in England to Cap Blanc in France. The 35km swim took him 14 hours and 50 minutes to complete. The first person to complete the swim was Matthew Webb in 1875, who completed it in 21 hours and 45 minutes.

For a complete list of all swimmers who have swum the English Channel, see: http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/

Answer: Around Cape Agulhas in South Africa.

On May 7, 1994, Lewis Gordon Pugh became the first person to swim 10km around Cape Agulhas in Cape Town, and which is the Southern most point in Africa. This swim took him 4 hours and 15 minutes to complete.

A common misconception is that Cape Agulhas is actually in Cape Town, near the Cape of Good Hope. However, in truth, it is roughly 170km southeast of Cape Town. There is a marker at Cape Agulhas, which shows the official dividing line between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

Answer: Both of these.

On August 6, 2003, Lewis Gordon Pugh became the first person to complete a swim around North Cape in Norway, a place that is situated at 71 degrees north, and is the most northern part of Europe.

He completed this 5km swim in 8-degree water in 1 hour and 4 minutes. By completing this swim, Pugh broke the record for most northern long distance swim, a record that was previously held by American Lynne Cox, who swam a section of the Bering Straits between Alaska and Russia. Pugh also became the first person to do a long distance swim north of the Arctic Circle.

Answer: All of these.

Lewis Gordon Pugh certainly led a full life in 2006! He accomplished all of the above options in the year of 2 double 0 6!

In January, Pugh swam across Nelson Mandela Bay (previously known as Algoa Bay) in 4 hours and 57 minutes. Pugh said of the swim: "Port Elizabeth isn't called the "Windy City" for nothing: I battled strong winds during the last few hours of the swim, and owe its completion to my friend Nick Marshall who kept me going."

In February, Pugh won the gold medal in the 500m freestyle at the 2006 World Winter Swimming Championships held in Finland. This race attracted many competitors, including swimmers from Australia.

In August, Pugh swam the full length of the River Thames... some 325km! He started in Kemble, and, swimming past places such as Oxford University, Big Ben, the Tower of London and Windsor Castle, and finished 21 days later at South end-on-Sea. After this swim, he was invited to a highly publicised visit to No. 10 Downing Street to discuss climate change with ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Answer: True

On January 27, 2006, Lewis Gordon Pugh became the first person to have completed a long distance swim in all five oceans of the world: the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, Arctic and Southern Oceans. He completed his long distance swim in the Atlantic Ocean in 1992 by crossing the English Channel; the Arctic Ocean around North Cape in 2003; the Southern Ocean across Deception Island near Antarctica in 2005; the Indian Ocean across Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa in 2006; and finally the Pacific Ocean swimming from Manly Beach to the Sydney Opera House in Australia, also in 2006.

Answer: Approximately 160km

The approximation of a 160km* swim was undertaken by Lewis Gordon Pugh in February of 2007 through the Maldives. The swim took him 10 days to complete.

The aim of the swim was to raise awareness of how many low-lying island nations, such as the Maldives, are being affected by climate change. Pugh commented: "Unless we are able to cut our carbon emissions dramatically we are going to have environmental refugees. We hear a lot about polar bears, melting sea ice and retreating glaciers and I wanted to show the full breadth of climate change (with this swim)."

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that climate change could cause the sea level to rise 59cm per century over the next 200 years... 80 percent of the land area in the Maldives is less than 1m above sea level. How long will it be before the Maldives become uninhabitable? You do the math.

*While researching this terrific man, I happened to notice that some websites claim he swam 140km, while others claim he swam 160km, while others claim he swam 170km. This is why I have approximated the length of the swim.

Answer: All of these are true.

All of the above reasons are true of Lewis Gordon Pugh's swim at the North Pole. He swum on July 15, 2007, and the 1km swim took him 18 minutes and 50 seconds to complete. The temperature of the water at any given time was between -1.8 and 0 degrees Celsius.

By completing this swim, Pugh also became the first person ever to complete a long distance swim in the North Pole. He swam through a crack in the ice where there should be none to highlight the awful effects that global warming has had on our planet.

His friend, Jorgen Amundsen, who is related to Roald Amundsen, the first man to walk to the South Pole, accompanied Pugh. Pugh said of the swim: "It was without doubt the hardest swim of my life. There were many times that I thought of giving up but I will never give up in front of a Norwegian! There is just too much history between our two nations for that."

Answer: It's in accordance with Channel Swimming Association Rules.

For every single one of Lewis Gordon Pugh's recorded long distance swims, he has worn nothing but a Speedo, goggles and a cap (generally with the Union Jack on it). This is an accordance with Channel Swimming, who only permit a swimming costume, goggles and a cap, even in polar regions, where the water temperature often drops below 0 degrees Celsius.

Answer: Anticipatory thermogenesis

Anticipatory thermo-genesis is the creation of heat before an event, which is still a fascinating subject for scientists. Professor Tim Noakes, Director of the University of Cape Town Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (mouthful!) says that he believes it's a Pavlovian response to Pugh's many years of cold water training, which gives him the edge he needs to be able to survive in cold waters, which would paralyze most people in a matter of seconds. Interestingly enough, anticipatory thermo-genesis has only ever been recorded in Pugh, and in the nine-banded armadillo in Texas.

Pugh has also said that he puts on a tremendous amount of weight before swimming in polar regions- for his swim in Antarctica in 2005, he put on 15kg.

There is no way to completely summarise the many achievements of this truly amazing man in one humble quiz. He's pioneered more swims around famous landmarks than any other swimmer in history. He truly is a modern day icon, and a man that I would very much like to meet one day. For more information and updates on this amazing man, his previous swims, future expeditions and team, see http://www.lewispugh.com.

Thanks for playing my quiz on this amazing man. I'd love to hear all of your comments and constructive criticisms. Have a lovely day!