Renowned endurance swimmer and United Nation’s Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Patron of the Oceans, Lewis Pugh has today completed the fifth leg of his Seven Swims in the Seven Seas for 1 Reason campaign to highlight the need for, and importance of Marine Protected Areas on the global agenda.
Lewis completed his 10km swim off the coast of Aqaba in Jordan in 2 hrs and 57 mins (see attached picture).
Immediately afterwards Lewis said: “I really enjoyed the swim. I was joined by about 20 young Jordanian swimmers, 5 of whom swam the whole way with me. We swam along the coast from Aqaba towards the Saudi border and through a Marine Protected Area. It was stark the difference between the MPA and the part which was not protected. In the protected area there was beautiful coral of all colours – red, pink, yellow, green and a gorgeous blue. And lots of tropical fish. In the non-protected areas there were bottles, cans and tyres lying on the seabed. We must see the whole world as a big national park, which we must protect for future generations. Otherwise the children I swam with today will soon live in a world devoid of beauty, which is simply unsustainable.”
Follow Lewis’s progress via his website, www.lewispugh.com Twitter @LewisPugh #7Swims and Facebook – Lewis Pugh.
For further information, interviews and pictures throughout Lewis’s journey please contact Louise Plank or Victoria Hartley-Wilson at Plank PR, +44(0)20 8995 3936.