money but in your 30s, you quit that to embrace full time endurance extreme swimming. yes. in a way, ijust wonder whether ego is a part of this and whether you were let s get to the campaigning in a minute but whether you are also trying to prove something to yourself about yourself. so, i think there s been a transition. so, you know, you re very, very right. i started out as a swimmer and i love swimming but then, i became a maritime lawyer and then, i became an ocean advocate and now, i represent the united nations as a un patron of the oceans and so, i suppose i m an environmental diplomat, so there s been that transition. but insofar as ego is concerned, there are easier ways of doing things. when you go into these swims, they are extremely, extremely hard. i understand that, but does breaking records, doing things that others have never done, matter to you? because i m just thinking of the way in which you i think even yourself, you ve at times compared yourself to people l
gone seriously wrong? i ve done a few swims which were very, very close to the edges, right? i mean, you re swimming in a very, very high consequence environment. i mean, let mejust explain, give you an example. so, for example, when i swam across the north pole, we prepared for the swim and we prepared as thoroughly as possible but you can t go there and do a practice swim. and i remember arriving in the north pole and looking out over this icy terrain and it s black water. it s really, really frightening. and then, just thinking as i m about to get into the water, well, this water is below zero . it s i.7 degrees centigrade, 29 degrees fahrenheit it s unbelievably cold. and just thinking, 0h, there s so many things which could possibly go wrong in here . and i dove into the water and i swam as hard as i could. i got out the other end. it had taken me 18 minutes and 50 seconds. it felt like i d been
to embrace full time endurance extreme swimming. yes. i just. in a way, ijust wonder whether ego is a part of this and whether you were let s get to the campaigning in a minute but whether you are also trying to prove something to yourself about yourself. so, i think there s been a transition. so, you know, you re very, very right. i started out as a swimmer and i love swimming but then, i became a maritime lawyer and then, i became an ocean advocate and now, i represent the united nations as a un patron of the oceans and so, i suppose i m an environmental diplomat, so there s been that transition. but insofar as ego is concerned, there are easier ways of doing things. when you go into these swims, they are extremely, extremely hard. i understand that, but does breaking records, doing things that others have never done, matter to you? because i m just thinking of the way in which you
i do these swims. but in a very busy news world, to be able to capture the imagination of the media, there has to be something special. so undertaking a swim, the first swim across the north pole, it automatically gets the media s attention and when you ve got that attention, you have influence. that attention, you have influence. . . influence. have things ever one influence. have things ever gone seriously influence. have things ever gone seriously wrong? i ve| influence. have things ever i gone seriously wrong? i ve done a few swims gone seriously wrong? i ve done a few swims which gone seriously wrong? i ve done a few swims which were - gone seriously wrong? i ve done a few swims which were very, i a few swims which were very, very close to the edges. right. your swimming very close to the edges. right. yourswimming in very, very close to the edges. right. your swimming in very, very high consequence environments so let me explain, give you an example. when i swim across the
therefore is in the waters down deception island are reminded of one s potential for folly but they aren t. first we came to the sealed inimitable of them and then we came to the whales and took virtually all of them. and the now were going for the antarctic toothfish and taking them and now even go over the tiniest life down there in which everything relies, krill. we have to know what it is time to stop the project areas. what it is time to stop the project areas. the message is verv powerful project areas. the message is very powerful and project areas. the message is very powerful and it s - project areas. the message is very powerful and it s the i project areas. the message isj very powerful and it s the kind of testimony that only you can provide because you ve undertaken swims like no other human. but there is something little bit maybe self aggrandising about the way you now describe yourself as an environmental diplomat who is capable of changing minds, of persuasion on a