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so guys I cannot believe how about say
this but I'm speaking to you from John
O'Groats and it feels amazing
and I'm happy I'm happy because I mean
John are great we managed to hit the
weather window with that we had to get
around the top of Scotland and around
Cape ruff all before the west of
Scotland started getting smashed by
storms and gale force winds and then
just the weather windows open like
Poseidon was smiling it as the Sun was
shining we had such strong tides all the
way across the top of Scotland that we
thought you know what going back to our
original brief we have to make it across
the top and then begin going back down
south before the summer completely ends
we basically just had to get real
businesslike as a team and it was just
eat swim sleep repeat all the way until
we got across the top of Scotland as a
result we made it to John O'Groats and
genuinely unbeknown to me and the team
once we arrived here it seems that we
set a record for Lands End to John
O'Groats it feels amazing
it honestly feels amazing but it was it
was never really our intention the pace
and speed that we've set was just
necessary to try and get all the way
around Great Britain in the weather
window that is the British summer which
as we know is is sometimes quite small
so it feels very strange I'm not gonna
like it feels really really nice to get
a record of course it does but you know
in a strange way we didn't realize we
were gonna set one so it's with mixed
feelings that I I now reflect and speak
to you guys so although I haven't
actually had time to catch up one-on-one
and speak to you guys and the cameras
are still rolling so here's some cheeky
footage of taper off the top of Scotland
and of course arriving in John O'Groats
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guys in a while but we'll be short of
time at the moment because basically
we've got to get to WIC and then across
the more effort which is that giant Bay
where we get across to Aberdeen so it's
still a little bit businesslike at the
moment on the boats which is what I'm
gonna have to do the QA this week from
Madeline sorry I'm gonna put my sea
socks on if that's okay I'm like worried
about any of the long-term lasting
effects obviously about my body no yes
yes I am worried so I would start at the
Great British Swim we did a lot of
research into any sort of situations
where the conditions would be quite
similar and one thing we looked at were
that astronauts and obviously with the
lack of gravity up in space you know
looking at a bone density muscle atrophy
and the body basically just kind of
breaking down and shriveling up so
genuinely my biggest concern is probably
how my ligaments tendons
bones everything really changed because
I've not been interacting with gravity
or what's going to be over a hundred
days Thomas quickly asks how and why do
I not complain that's a very good
question I think I always remind myself
that no one has asked me to do this this
is something that I wanted to do and I
think for all of the hardship but I've
come to call it healthy hardship there's
also been moments where it's just a
privilege the north of Scotland although
it's so barren and cold and just open to
the elements it's also some of the most
beautiful scenery you like you'll ever
see the cliffs are just amazing and
wildlife so it's very hard that whenever
you think about complaining you've just
got to think it's it's it's a privilege
it's really not a hardship and I just
think I'm going to go off on a little
bit of a science tangent here but if you
look at ancestors they didn't have
central heating they didn't have the
latest sort of technology woolly jumpers
radiators all those sorts of things they
had to rely on these almost ancient
age-old physiological mechanisms within
their body for instance your capillaries
the way that they vasodilate and
vasoconstrict so how your Bloods your
blood vessels will basically open up and
constrict to control blood flow to the
limbs that's something that I think so
many of us have lost because if we get a
little bit cold now we're just going to
put the heating on whereas out here I
don't actually have that privilege so I
have to rely on these primitive primal
mechanisms within my body to actually
heat up or cool down my body as mother
nature intended again I'm sorry I'm
going off on such a tangent here but I
just think when you think about
complaining understand it's a healthy
kind of hardship and I think a lot of
people can actually have a sizeable
serving of healthy hardship in their
life okay guys that is the Q&A for this
week and I'm going to continue clip my
way see you on but also I have to
basically apply some Lube in places and
that you probably don't want to see me
apply some loot
so for now I'm going to zoom out get
ready for swim and essentially
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another in the series of iconic headland
strongman pictures sup guys
just finished the finals film of the day
arrived in a place called wick which is
really nice just sat for John O'Groats
it's quite civilized as well I can see
people I can see houses I've not seen
houses in a while not many houses on top
of Scotland we haven't really spoke much
this week because I've just been staring
down at the bottom of the seabed so kind
of made sense to reflect on everything
from Land's End to John O'Groats best
moments from Land's End to John O'Groats
got to be honest probably the wildlife a
minke whales gonna be hard to top
playing hide and seek with the seals at
Lundy
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and also trying to race the Dolphins
basically because I spend so much time
in the water a lot of the animals just
kind of become accustomed to my you know
presence there and they kind of die I
like to think they've almost accepted me
as one of their own so it's amazing in
such a privilege to have that sort of
interaction with you know minke whales
dolphins seals you know some of the
birds as well is it's just it's so nice
and I think that's that's gonna be tough
to be worst bit probably last week I'm
gonna be honest
Outer Hebrides was just brutal trying to
make it round Cape rough before all the
storms came in because that that entire
West Coast
that is wild wild west Scotland so you
just get hit with everything that is
coming from that West Coast you know
storms gales wind wave everything it
just hits it and if you're amongst that
you're just gonna get bounced off the
coast
obviously jellyfish infested as well but
i I've just I've grown to respect the
jellyfish yeah they were one of the only
things up in north Scotland
it's just nothing exists there it's just
so remote and rural so all you find are
these hench jellyfish that I've I've
just grown to respect I think I've
become more mature and I know that's
coming from a guy who wears a hat that
says eat my bubbles on hear me out I
think I'm more mature because when I
started the whole group very swim I was
thinking as as an athlete quite young
and naive athlete and I looked and I
worked it all out on paper and I said
there you go in 20 miles a day hundred
days done tick
and I'm very quickly realized it's just
not as simple as that and I was very
very quickly humbled by the time I
reached done Jeunesse I was humbled as a
swimmer and now I think a lot less as an
athlete and more like an adventurer in
that I know that mother nature is not
something that you can compete against
she'll win every single time if you try
and do that but if you're prepared to
work with Mother Nature there's a chance
she might allow you to safely pass all
the way around Great Britain I've said
many times that it feels like when
you're in the ocean sometimes you can
basically dance with Mother Nature
other times you're fighting with Mother
Nature and most days you wake up and you
want to realize hang on am i putting on
my dancing shoes or my sparring gloves
and if you're intelligent about it you
can put your dancing shoes on more often
than you put on your sparring gloves
another thing that I've been thinking
about on today's Swim was how the
public's perception has changed as we've
made our way all around the coast and
when I started there was a lot of people
who said you know it can't be done they
looked at all of the metrics on paper
and people were saying you know I was an
idiot for even trying and the funny
thing is is I agreed with them I was
like no no no on paper it makes
absolutely no sense that the human body
should be able to survive there at that
pace for that amount of time but I've
said this before and you know I was so
naive to start this whole thing but also
so stubborn that I'm gonna finish it as
well and it was actually a good friend
of mine who said Ross you're a terrible
role model no one should follow your
lifestyle and again I agreed with him I
I don't recommend you know Ryder next
salt tongue it's to anyone it's not a
way to spend your summer don't advise it
definitely don't try at home however he
also said but that's not the point of
view your point is almost you're so
extreme that you are just trying to get
people to shift what they think is
possible in their own heads so even if
you're so so extreme you're so far left
Ross and if you just through existing
and doing what you do get people to just
shift what they think is possible by one
degree then you have served your purpose
on this earth and I sat there and I
thought about that and I said I will
take it there's a good purpose
but the best thing about the Great
British swim and the change in public
perception has to be the president of
the world open water swimming
Association has made preside in an
official term and on that note I need to
finish my hot chocolate I need to get to
bed we've got a big swim tomorrow but as
always don't forget you can follow my
progress on the red bull tracker which
is red Blanco WK / great british wim and
for now I will see you next week