Dean Summers has battled bluebottle stings, night-time swell and 95 kilometres of ocean to become the first person to swim unassisted from Newcastle to Sydney.
The 64-year-old swam for 31 hours without stopping, between Newcastle’s Nobbys Beach and Palm Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches.
The Newcastle to Sydney swim was previously attempted by long distance champions Des Renford and Susie Maroney, but both were forced to abandon their efforts.
Renford’s shark cage sunk halfway through the swim in 1981, while a southerly storm foiled Maroney’s attempt in 1999.
Summers said he followed the rules of English Channel swimming, which meant wearing only Speedos, a racing cap and goggles.
“You have to leave dry land, you have to arrive on dry land, you’re not allowed to touch anybody, you’re not allowed to be assisted, you’re fed by something on a rope,” Summers told ABC Radio Sydney.
“We stuck to those rules to set the record.”
A shout out to ship workers
While Summers swam unassisted, he was closely followed by a large boat that fed him.
The Sydneysider was also flanked by kayakers paddling in shifts equipped with a cable producing an electric current to deter sharks.
Summers used the opportunity to raise money for mental health services for seafarers.
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The swim followed the historically significant seafaring route of the sixty-miler ships, which once regularly sailed from Newcastle to Sydney to deliver the coal that powered the state’s capital.
“I just wanted to shout out to those men that were working on those ships,” said Summers, who was once the Australian head of the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
“It’s a bygone industry now of course, but it’s worthwhile remembering.”
Bluebottles around neck and arms
Summers said he was stung by bluebottles the whole way down the coast.
As the swim was unassisted, swearing was his only way to take the edge off the pain.
“I didn’t get used to it, but it was just like hot steel rods being lashed across your body the whole time,” Summers said.
“I thought that I could sort of drift off into a zen-like zone and give my brain a rest.
“But every time I tried to, I got stung by a bluebottle.”
Like swimming ‘through the universe’
Summers said the most beautiful part of the journey was 10 hours of swimming through the night, lit only by the Milky Way above and bioluminescence in the water below.
“The Milky Way shone as bright as the sun,” he said.
“[Then] every time my hand hit the water there was a small explosion of [bioluminescence] that gently drifted into my goggles for 10 hours — it was magical.
“It was like swimming through the universe.”
Summers said he was keen to draw attention to long-distance swimming in Australia, as too much value was being placed on more famous swims like the English Channel.
“I’ve been guilty of this myself going to the English Channel — it’s very expensive, it’s a long way to go,” he said.
“I understand [what] the draw is to these international … destinations, but Australia and our coast is just so sensationally clean and beautiful and safe.”
The 32-kilometre English channel swim has taken as little as 7 hours and as long as 27 hours, according to the Channel Swimming Association.
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