Portadown’s 29-year old swimmer swam 91.9 miles in nine hours, nine and thirty seconds. A man has set a new world record in swimming from Northern Ireland to Scotland. He celebrated his success with a jam sandwich, and a pint.
Jordan Leckey, a Portadown, County Armagh resident, beat the previous record by approximately 25 minutes.
The 29-year old set off from Donaghadee and reached Dunsky Castle, near Portpatrick in nine hours, nine and thirty seconds.
It will be ratified and replace the current record of 9 hours 34 minutes set in 2013 by Michelle Macy, a US swimmer.
Mr. Leckey said that his sole focus is to finish the difficult swim.
He said, “Some people were talking about records. But I just wanted the other side. That was my only focus, no matter what time it took.”
Formerly a competitive swimmer, Mr Leckey completed daily open water swimming training. He also used lockdown time to build his own pool in his garage for practice.
After the weather warmed up, he went to Lough Neagh every day for training sessions.
He began his swim on Monday at 6.40 AM. A support swimmer was allowed to accompany him for the entire route.
The first two hours are the most difficult because you’re still learning and not fully in the swing of things. He said that he was having doubts and thinking about whether it was really cold, how far it would be, and if he could make it.
“After a while your body becomes numb to cold, but it’s not until the first hours that you feel it.
“I was stung only on the tip of one toe by a lot of jellyfish along my route.
“I saw only what was below me in the water, but my dad said that there were seals. We also saw dolphins as we returned, a large pod of them.”
He said that he lost his ability to think and was unable to see that he was on track for a record when he was in water.
He said, “As soon I climbed up on the rock, I heard shouting, ‘that’s a world-record’, and it just felt so great.”
“I tried to get up and raise my fist, but I didn’t have the energy.”
The record attempt was submitted to the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association and the Guinness Book of Records for ratification.
Mr Leckey was among three swimmers who completed Monday’s route.
Newsthatsnew
