Ross Edgley announces his Great Icelandic Swim: 1,000 miles in 100 days

In May ultra-marathon sea swimmer Ross Edgley will attempt a historic first – swimming over 1,000 miles (1,610 km) around Iceland’s entire coastline. This is the equivalent of swimming the English Channel every single day.

Next month ultra-marathon sea swimmer Ross Edgley will attempt a historic first – swimming over 1,000 miles (1,610 km) around Iceland’s entire coastline while conducting ocean conservation research.

Renowned for its 20 metre waves and 60 km/h gusts of wind, Iceland presents a brutal test of endurance. To succeed, Edgley must swim over 30 km per day in freezing waters, navigate treacherous conditions, and share the ocean with killer whales – all while contributing to ocean environmental and conservation research.

To put that into perspective, it’s like swimming the English Channel every single day, in water temperatures as low as 1°C (33.8°F). No stranger to ambitious swims, Edgley became the first – and so far, only – person to swim 1,780 miles around Great Britain (2018). More recently, in 2024, he completed the world’s longest non-stop river swim, covering 510 km down Canada’s Yukon River. But this challenge around Iceland will be unlike anything he has faced before.

Mapping biodiversity

More than just a world-first endurance feat, this expedition is also a pioneering citizen science study. It will see Ross collect water samples in a unique collaboration between leading researchers from the University of Iceland and the University of Victoria (Canada), supported by Future Oceans International to analyse and map microplastic distribution in the waters around Iceland. He will also team up with the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute of Iceland and #BioProtect as part of an ambitious international EU project to map biodiversity and identify what marine creatures are present in Iceland’s water through daily eDNA1 samples. All Humpback whales and Orcas sighted during the trip will also be photographed for a unique study tracking cetacean movements and numbers around Iceland.

Speaking about the expedition, Edgley said, “Iceland has an amazing history of sailing and adventure. I grew up with my grandad telling me stories of great explorers navigating every fjord, bay, and beach for the first time in the late 9th century. Now I’m a little older, I would love to follow in their footsteps, but since I’m not much of a sailor, swimming around it seemed like the next logical choice.”

He adds: “But in all seriousness, Iceland is one of nature’s great masterpieces, and swimming around it represents a unique opportunity to fuse sport, adventure, and science. We’re working with some incredible researchers from the University of Iceland and the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute to conduct pioneering research that will help preserve and protect our oceans.”

Support network

The entire expedition, expected to take around three months, is supported by lead sponsors BMW and Gym King. His swim and ocean research will be supported by SKIRR.

SKIRR founder, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, knows an awful lot about endurance challenges – being the first person to ever sail solo and non-stop around the world. He also first took an expedition to Iceland in 1998. Says Sir Robin on Ross’ upcoming record attempt:

“We sail on inhospitable waters around the world with the Clipper Race and SKIRR runs yearly expeditions to Iceland. Just sailing there, the conditions are harsh enough. So for Ross to be swimming in ice-cold seas, just shy of the Arctic Circle, day in day out, this really will be the ultimate challenge.

“The SKIRR Adventures team is ready to support Ross with both his expedition and the ocean research being carried out as he swims.”

Christophe Pampoulie, Research Director of the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute of Iceland: “Collaborating with Ross during his adventure is a unique opportunity for Icelandic scientists and for the BioProtect EU mission project to promote citizen science and the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) citizen samplers.

“Coastal areas are rarely studied in Iceland due to the lack of small research boats, and the collection of environmental DNA by Ross and his team will drastically improve our knowledge on species distribution and biodiversity.”

To learn more about The Great Icelandic Swim and follow Ross on his journey, visit BMW.co.uk