Pablo Fernández Sets World Record Swimming In Place For 25 Hours

Pablo Fernández Sets World Record Swimming In Place For 25 Hours

Steven Munatones 05/07/2020 open water swimming No Comment

Pablo Fernández Álvarez Sets World Record Swimming In Place For 25 Hours

Courtesy of Libertad Silva, Madrid, Spain.


After a long, stressful night for Pablo Fernández Álvarez and his team, Fernández finally set his third Guinness World Record after completing 25 hours swimming in a continuous-flow pool.

Libertad Silva reported, “He was tired but happy to complete the challenge and have raised over €15,000 for the Spanish Red Cross.

Overall, it was a great swim. The first hours were easy for him and he even said in one break “to feel better than what he had expected”. This boosted our confidence that he would make it.

Also, during the first shifts he had the Iberswim guys acting as observers which he liked a lot, but as night fell they had to go. However, they asked to return early in the morning at 5 am to accompany him. Pablo did not expect this and was glad to have them cheering for him.

After completing the first 12 hours he told us he knew the hardest part was coming, but he looked at ease and calm. Of course, that’s what we saw from the outside. You can’t know how many mental battles he won.

The support was incredible. From observers to people like his physiotherapist – who was supposed to arrive at 6 am, but also asked to arrive at 4 am to be there in case Pablo needed him), his family and people who we did not even know. Pablo did not need the physiotherapist, but what he did need was a cup of coffee at dawn. As incredible as it sounds there was a moment at dawn in which Pablo was exhausted and falling asleep while swimming and requested a cup of coffee on his break.

At 3:00 am people were still following the challenge live and asking questions on YouTube. People from all over sent Pablo messages of support on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and the live chat on YouTube.

His family also paid a very important roll. He would have wanted for them to be there supporting him but with the quarantine, it was impossible for them to travel to Madrid. To support him during the hardest hours of the night, I made contact with them and asked them to record videos cheering and in every break we would show him one. This never failed to make him smile. They followed the transmission the whole night, even his brother who had had a knee surgery that morning.

Pablo ended the swim at 10:00 am on May 7th after starting yesterday on May 6th at 9:00 am, swimming for 25 hours. The rules stated that Pablo could rest for 5 minutes for every hour completed, but he never used the 5 minutes completely, at almost 4 or a little before he would be ready and try his goggles.

When Pablo finished he dedicated some words to the people watching him and not long after, the national press started a frenzy of publications to tell his great story. As said, support has been incredible.“

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