Interview with Oly Rush | Beach Token

1. Interview with Oly Rush Last month you swam round Grand Cayman non-stop for 37 hours to raise money for Plastic Free Cayman. This is a simply unbelievable achievement everyone at the Beach Collective would like to express our total astonishment and admiration. When did you first realise you had a rare talent for long distance swimming? It does sound crazy to say it out loud to be fair, 37 hours non stop! I’ve known for a while I was able to swim for long distances but the real turning point was back in 2019 during training for a planned 16k swim. We (myself and Roy from Clean Jurassic Coast) soon realised that I was able to complete the training swims with relative ease so we knew it was time to set the bar much higher. I’m curious to know, when you’re out at sea in the middle of the night, totally exhausted, with many hours of swimming left to go, what goes through your mind? To be honest I’m not thinking about much, when I’m swimming it’s the one time my mind is truly resting. It’s not always like that though. There were times when I’d bump into something, maybe seaweed or other debris and it would raise the heart rate slightly. And sometimes the fatigue or certain aches or pains from the constant repetition are impossible to drown out. In that instance I’m often thinking about the next food/drink stop! But the fleeting moments of true silence, apart from the sensation of the water gliding past, make it all worthwhile. It’s a feeling of contentment and total ease, one that I will always chase! Read more: Interview with Oly Rush