Over a period of 30 years Pugh has pioneered more swims around famous landmarks than any other swimmer in history. In an interview with
Forbes he stated: "Between
Lynne Cox,
Martin Strel and myself, we've hit all of the world's major landmarks. There's really nothing left." He became the first person to swim around the infamous
North Cape, the northernmost point in Europe. The following year he became the first person to swim down the entire length of
Sognefjord in Norway, a swim which took him 21 days to complete. In 2005 he broke the world record for the farthest-north long-distance swim by undertaking a swim at
80° North around Verlegenhuken, the northernmost cape in
Spitsbergen. He followed that five months later by breaking
Lynne Cox's world record for the farthest-south long-distance swim by undertaking a swim at
65° South at Petermann Island off the
Antarctic Peninsula. In November 2017, Pugh became be the first person to swim in the Antarctic waters around
South Georgia Island.
Anticipatory Thermo-Genesis On both his Arctic and Antarctic expeditions Professor
Tim Noakes, a sports scientist from the University of Cape Town, recorded Pugh's ability to raise his core body temperature by nearly 2 °C in anticipation of entering the freezing water. The swim coincided with the lowest coverage of Arctic sea ice ever recorded.
Mount Everest In May 2010 Pugh swam across Lake Pumori, a glacial lake on
Mount Everest, to highlight the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas and the impact the reduced water supply will have on world peace. Millions of people from India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal rely on the water, which flows from the Himalayan glaciers. The swim, at an altitude of 5,300 metres, in 2 °C water (35 °F), took 22 minutes and 51 seconds to complete.
The Seven Seas In August 2014, Pugh undertook the first long-distance swim in all the
Seven Seas to campaign for more Marine Protected Areas in the region. The swims took place in the following locations: •
Mediterranean Sea – a 10 km swim off
Monte Carlo in Monaco •
Adriatic Sea – a 10 km swim off
Zadar in Croatia •
Aegean Sea – a 10 km swim off
Athens in Greece •
Black Sea – a 10 km swim off
Şile in Turkey •
Red Sea – a 10 km swim off
Aqaba in Jordan •
Arabian Sea – a 10 km swim off Rass Al Hadd in Oman •
North Sea – a 60 km Thames swim from
Southend-on-Sea to the
Thames Barrier, east London. Afterwards Pugh wrote in an op-ed in
The New York Times that he had "seriously underestimated the urgency" of the issue he undertook the swim for, noting that he saw "no sharks, no whales, no dolphins" and "no fish longer than 30 centimeters".
English Channel In July and August 2018, Pugh swam the entire length of the
English Channel – the second person ever to do so after Ross Edgley completed the feat a month before during his 1,780-mile circumnavigation swim around Great Britain. Although he admitted to fearing sharks, Pugh said he was "really frightened of a world without sharks." Beginning on 15 May, he swam multiple hours daily in 8 °C (47 °F) water, completing the swim on 26 May near the film’s original shooting location. He swam for approximately 24 hours in total and described the effort as one of the most difficult of his nearly 40-year career, citing cold temperatures, distance, and shark migration season, though he said severe weather was the greatest challenge. ==Kayaking==