The Ancient Seven Seas

Seven Marathon Swims in Seven "Ancient" Seas undertaken by club member David Rich

One of our swimming bretheren, originally hailing from San Francisco's Dolphin Club, has supplied details of his seven marathon swims in seven separate seas.

The last of the seven swims was completed on 26 August this year, at Deal, Kent.

A challenge inspired by Lewis Pugh

Writes David -

“I wanted to create a new swim challenge, the "Ancient Seven Seas" (Ancient Seven Seas - Openwaterpedia) that offered a global concept with the goal of inspiring and expanding participation through marathon swims.

"At a minimum of 10 kilometers in each of the Ancient Seven Seas (Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and North Sea), this unassisted solo challenge takes swimmers through the cradle of civilization with different cultures, religions and views. British environmental campaigner and ultra-marathon swimmer, Lewis Pugh's original Seven Swims in the Seven Seas for 1 Reason, completed in 2014, was its inspiration. Rich met Pugh in 2019, discussed the idea, and the new swim challenge was recognized by the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA)".

Having moved from San Francisco to London a few years ago and joining the Serpentine Swimming Club, David knew that this closer proximity to the seas made for an ideal opportunity to complete his swim vision.

David reflected on three challenges faced beyond preparing to swim the 10 kilometers.

The first was logistics - simply coordinating solo swims in seven countries over four separate trips.

The second was preparing for solo swims where there were no governing swimming organizations to provide guidance on a course or local conditions (currents, tides and wind).

The last was coordinating with captains and a crew who, in some cases spoke very little English, and had never piloted a long-distance swimmer before.

“These captains, at first, could not understand why I came all this way to their country to swim for 3 hours, and not to fish or scuba dive. The limited ability to communicate led to some very funny and confusing moments. Once they understood the Seven Seas swim challenge, they were thrilled to help,” Rich shared.

For David, who has swum channels around the world, these long distance swims are about new possibilities for exploration and discovery. The Ancient Seven Seas challenge, which he is the second to complete after Pugh, was that and more.

David Rich’s Seven Marathon Swims in the "Ancient Seven Seas":

End of the Black Sea swim

White Cliffs, Kent, England, August 2023

Arabian Sea

Red Sea, with the crew

David was a member of last summer's "Serpentine Seals" English Channel relay team, organised by Francesca Franklyn.