|
|
ExpeditionNews about Lewis Gordon Pugh's not so first North Pole swim
11:32 am CDT Aug 14, 2007
(ThePoles.com) You might recall the story ExWeb scrapped about about Lewis Gordon Pugh's 'North Pole-swim' the other week. "Too many factual mistakes" we wrote. So what was up with that?
The editor had simply done a cut and paste of the claims, without checking, in the belief that if they were printed by all the world media - they had to be correct. That's how stories like Pugh's spread.
Proof of Global Warming?
The bones in Pugh’s coverage were that he had done the first swim at the North Pole. "10 years ago it would have been impossible for all the ice there," he said in an US TV broadcast, referring to Global warming. However, open water at the North Pole in the summer season is not new, and stretches back more than 10 years.
In fact, a pic posted at the front page of the New York Times about 8 years ago caused amusement among First Air Arctic pilots, "there's always open water there this time of the year," they told ExWeb back then.
There have also been quite a few dips at and around the spot over the years, and that's why ExWeb scrubbed the story.
ExpeditionNews however dove into the claims. "Pugh, who gave up his career as a maritime lawyer to become a full-time endurance swimmer, carried out his latest expedition to highlight how global warming has melted the Arctic icecaps," the EN newsletter reported last week.
Ifs' and buts'
ExpeditionNews did some more research and reported:
"Lewis Gordon Pugh took the plunge on July 15 and was erroneously credited by media as the first man to swim at the North Pole. At press time, there were many 'first ever' accounts on Google News. Pugh himself claimed instead that it was the most northern long distance swim in history."
In the TV interview though, the anchor clearly said "the first swim at the North Pole,” and this was not objected to by Pugh. Pugh's major sponsor expedition website clearly states that "British explorer and endurance swimmer, Lewis Gordon Pugh, has successfully completed the extraordinary challenge of being the first man to swim at the Geographic North Pole."
Pugh's Spokesperson told EN that tourist swims at the NP don't count, "a rope is tied around their waist; they jump in, swim a few strokes, and quickly climb out using a ladder. Experiences like these are not considered 'swims' by swimming organizations.”
The website however excludes words such "long-distance" or "according to swimming organizations." The message is not 'the most northern long distance' but simply 'the first NP swim'.
President of the ExplorersClub: "My wife did it in her bikini"
The polar world objected. ExpeditionNews reports: "The media's 'first ever' reports raised some ire. According to this anonymous posting on CBS News.com:"
"'He is not the first person to swim at the North Pole. I was attached to the USCGC Polar Sea and we were the first U.S. surface ship to make it all the way to the North Pole in 1994. The CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, a Canadian Coast Guard Cutter and a Russian icebreaker, the USSRS Yamal were there also. A group of people from the three ships took a swim behind the prop wash area of the Yamal. I do not know who was the first in, but I do know that there are many witnesses'.”
ExpeditionNews is closely related to the ExplorersClub and reported also the following:
"Also disputing the erroneous 'first swim' claim is Captain Alfred S. McLaren, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Ph.D., and president emeritus and director of The Explorers Club, who was commanding officer of the Sturgeon class nuclear attack submarine, USS Queenfish, from 1969 to 1973."
"He tells EN, 'I swam at the North Pole on the 12th of July, 1996 (in my long underwear pants - I was the first American to do it that year; Edmund Ball, 92, followed me for a brief dip. My wife, Avery, swam at the North Pole in 1999, and on 25 July, 2003, in just a bikini. Her 2003 swim was quite lengthy!'
London resident Lewis Gordon Pugh, 36, took his swim on July 15. He traveled to the Geographic North Pole on a Russian icebreaker with a 29-person back-up team including a mind coach, Expedition News reported. As in previous swims, Pugh stuck to Channel Swimming Club rules, performed without wetsuit, flippers or a snorkel. The swim took 19 minutes and lasted a full kilometer (over half a mile) in 28 F waters (-1.8 C).
Lewis has completed a string of endurance swims in seas across the globe and by January 2006 he had completed a long-distance swim in all five oceans.
|
|
Top Feature Stories |
|
Latest News |
more news |
|
“Happy New Year! ThePoles.com”: 2008/2009 Antarctica speed records and new season roundup
Full Story
|
|
Call to preserve the South Pole Dome
Full Story
|
|
Popular re-run: Hercules Inlet start point – leaving from where exactly?
Full Story
|
|
Re-run: Antenna Alert from the South Pole Station and ALE to the expeditions
Full Story
|
|
ExWeb interview with Cecilie Skog, “Rolf is gone. But not my dreams and I hold on to those dreams really tight”
Full Story
|
|
ExWeb interview with Ryan Waters, “I have discovered that the polar pioneers were unbelievably determined and adventurous”
Full Story
|
|
Long Riders’ Guild: "we are determined to lead from the saddle"
Full Story
|
|
ExWeb interview with Jim McNeill, “Its name may give it away! The Northern Pole of Inaccessibility!”
Full Story
|
|
|
|
ExWeb interview with Ryan Waters and Cecilie Skog, “The mental part was the most difficult part” Jan 22, 2010
|
|
Slam-dunk: Cecilie and Ryan bag polar history Jan 21, 2010
|
|
Antarctic wrap-up: Cecilie Skog and Ryan Waters did it! The first unassisted and unsupported expedition across Antarctica! Jan 21, 2010
|
|
High Arctic International Explorers Services alert and assistance to North Pole skiers Jan 21, 2010
|
|
Antarctic wrap-up: Cecilie and Ryan through the big drop, ice falls and crevasses; seeing the finish at the Ross Sea Jan 20, 2010
|
|
Jim McNeill and his Ice Warrior team’s final training for the North Pole of Inaccessibility Jan 20, 2010
|
|
Interview with Kelly Bush, “If I'm going to do something then it needs to be as challenging as possible” Jan 19, 2010
|
|
Antarctic wrap-up: Meagan McGrath at the South Pole Jan 18, 2010
|
|
ExplorersWeb Week in Review Jan 15, 2010 Jan 15, 2010
|
|
Antarctic wrap-up: Cecilie and Ryan on The Devil’s Dance Floor; Meagan expected at the South Pole Jan 15, 2010
|
|
The Deconstruction of The Dome Jan 14, 2010
|
|
ExWeb interview with Kelly Bush (part 1): Walk across America Jan 14, 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
