Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

On June 2nd in the middle of the deep blue Pacific Ocean, Andy Akinwolere, one of the presenters of Blue Peter, became the first person to swim across the deepest part of the Palau Trench, the deepest ever recorded location for an open water swim.

Richard Turley reported that Akinwolere began his swim in the middle of the ocean at 07.46.456 N by 134.57.35 E and swam 8.6 km until he reached 07.50.893 N by 134.57.347 E in a time of 3 hours 14 minutes.

Akinwolere had only mentioned a few weeks ago at the British Gas Great Salford Swim that he was just overcoming his fears of swimming, “his greatest fear”. From barely being able to swim freestyle (see here) to swimming 8.6 km in some of the deepest waters in the world (27,976 ft), Akinwolere grew in confidence and ability in lightening speed – a great message and role model for children.

With the closest land in Palau, Akinwolere and his crew took a while to motor out to the depths over the Palau Trench. In the still, calm conditions with gently rolling 2 – 4 foot swells, Akinwolere faced nearly ideal conditions out in the Pacific. His world record swim for the deepest ever record location for an open water swim (feet) was documented and will be shown on BBC and Blue Peter on June 20th.

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