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In June 2018 I set out with my friend, Rob McArthur, from Marble Arch on an adventure challenge
that we had set ourselves. The aim was to get from London to Spitsbergen, an island in the Arctic, by human power alone. The route was to run from London to Dover (85 miles), swim the English Channel (21 miles), cycle from France to the tip of Norway (2,000 miles) and, finally, row to Longyearbyen (700 miles), the most northerly inhabited town in the world, on the Svalbard archipelago. We aimed to raise £100,000 for the Scouts.
But let’s rewind to when all this began. I met Rob at Newcastle University and we had a lot of idle chats about the idea of taking on an expedition of some sort. This shared armchair adventure of ours lasted nearly a decade without it being taken much further, before we realised that our chance might soon slip away. So, in the Easter of 2015, we decided to write down 10 ideas each for the trip. One was to get to the North Pole from London by human power. When the route was broken down, it seemed ludicrous, but vaguely plausible, so we decided to investigate. We contacted Arctic explorers, Channel swimmers, ocean rowers and ultra-endurance athletes to understand if our route was feasible. It became clear, though, that the North Pole was a step too far. We wanted our expedition to take place in the more appealing summer months, but to get to the North Pole from Svalbard we would have to travel in mid-winter and traverse a frozen sea. Let’s face it, this last leg was a seriously big ask, so we set Svalbard as the final destination.
It’s probably worth pointing out that neither of us was particularly competent at any of these disciplines. At school I played a bit of tennis and 2nd XI hockey, and was
fairly average athletically. In fact, swimming was my least favourite sport, as I have bad memories of swallowing lots of chlorinated water! Since leaving Oundle, I had run one marathon, which I really struggled with due to knee problems. However, we quickly realised that the aquatic legs were going to determine our success. We therefore started swimming lessons and immersed ourselves in open-water swim groups. We eventually achieved six- hour swims at Dover Harbour with all the other Channel swimmers. During the winter months we would do the same in the indoor 25-metre pool. The metamorphosis into a goldfish was mind-numbingly boring, but mentally strengthening in equal measure.
We started running as well, which helped with our endurance, and slowly built up our stamina. Both of us cycled to work and that pretty much comprised our cycling training. The most logistically challenging part of the trip was the row. At that point, no one had ever rowed from Norway to Svalbard and so there was uncertainty about whether it was possible. We also had to find a boat, organise transportation and gain permission to row there from the Governor of Svalbard, which included a risk assessment for the frequent stormy weather and polar bears. We also had to learn how to row an ocean.
We had hoped to set off in the summer of 2017, but Rob was diagnosed with glandular fever, which ruled him out of training for six months. We therefore postponed the expedition to 2018, which was possibly a blessing in disguise, as we were much better prepared, although due to some complications we had still only been in our rowing boat six times, five of which had been on a river. The one time we went to sea, we lost an oar and nearly hit a large metal buoy!
As 14th June approached, I had an ankle injury, suffered two weeks before, and was therefore dreading the run. We had a big send-off with friends and family at Marble Arch, but by the time we reached Hyde Park Corner, I was limping badly. It was not a good start. I strapped my ankle up with physio tape and, slightly shocked, we carried on. Within 30 minutes I was back on the ground. This time I mummified my ankle in tape and somehow it held. The run was completed over three days and, although painful, proceeded without further major incident, arriving in Dover on my 34th birthday.
The swim was next and I was terrified. Our slot was the first tide of the Channel swimming calendar and the water was still only 14 degrees. We had wetsuits, but I had never been in water of that temperature for more than seven hours. Our pilots called us and we were given our window - a 7am start from Samphire Hoe. The conditions were perfect and it started well. But as the sun started to go down, I was painfully aware that I should have been in France. I was about 3km away and kept swimming, but my left shoulder was shot. I can say in all honesty that in my life I had never wanted anything more than to make sure I got across to France. I’d thought about it every
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THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2018 –2019
FEATURE
An unforgettable experience
Last year Poldy Van Lynden (C 03) achieved a world first by running, swimming, cycling and rowing 5,000km from London to the Arctic island of Svalbard. This is his story