Brunswick Heads local Edward Mason has recently completed his 27 km swim across New Zealand’s Lake Tekapo, becoming the fourth person in the world to manage the crossing, and raising funds for critically ill children via Make-A-Wish Australia.
The Echo caught up with him after his epic, freezing swim.
Ed said he chose Lake Tekapo because I knew it would be a massive challenge but with the right training, possibly achievable. ‘After swimming across Lake Taupo in January last year (40 km swim on the North Island), I was keen to swim on the South Island. I knew that there are a lot of incredible lakes on the South Island and Tekapo provided a very good challenge, 23 kms in cold water.
‘This is colder than Taupo so it was a level up in terms of difficulty. There are bigger and colder lakes which I may attempt in the future, but Tekapo was perfect for now,’ he said.
What was it like? ‘Swimming across Tekapo was like spending eight hours in a giant ice bath surrounded by huge mountains. Floating in the middle of the lake was incredible. All I could see around me was the mountains and as I swam I was looking straight down into the blue depths.
‘It is a very humbling experience to be floating in the middle of a very large, cold lake. It was hard. I was cold the whole time, so I was constantly fighting that battle in my mind.’
Have you done anything like this before?
‘Yes, in January last year I attempted my first big swim across Lake Taupo on the North Island of New Zealand. Taupo is longer than Tekapo (40kms as opposed to 23kms) but it is warmer.
‘Taupo was a huge challenge that took me 14 and a half hours. It was also very cold in the morning but warmed up as the day went on. Swimming across Taupo and Tekapo were definitely two of the greatest days of my life. Each was its own unique challenge and I had to dig super deep to finish both.’
‘This was something that I could do to try and give something those kids who are doing it really tough. Having to battle a critical illness is something that no child should have to go through. Every kid should be out having fun and Make-A-Wish does awesome work bringing joy to those kids.’
What was the most difficult part? ‘The hardest moment was hopping in the water and the first two to three hours of the swim because of the cold,’ Ed remembers.
‘I was wearing two jumpers, two shirts, two pairs of pants and two pairs of socks over my wetsuit to try and stay warm before the swim. Taking all of that off and hopping into the water was very hard. The air temperature was around 6 degrees C and the water temp was 13-15 degrees C. My body temperature went down quickly and it took me a good while to be able to breathe properly after first hopping in.
‘For 2-3 hours I was fighting the cold, trying to keep my pace up to keep my body temperature up. Every minute I was thinking I might have to quit. Eventually, after about three hours I started to think that I might be able to finish the swim. I was having moments where I was forgetting about the cold and things were improving. I kept thinking that if I just keep moving forward and forgetting about the cold, I might finish.’
Did you have any support? ‘I did have my good mate Ash out there with me supporting. She was in the IRB next to me for the whole swim whilst marathon swimming legend Phil Rush was driving the IRB.
‘That was a huge mental boost for me, to have my mate right there supporting, handing me hot water and food every time we stopped. So much of a big swim like this is mental, so having a close friend there with you is awesome. You have to stay positive and having Ash and Phil there was perfect. They’re both awesome, positive people.
‘Ash has run a few ultra-marathons so knows what is required mentally for something like this. You have to be 110 per cent positive no matter what, and she brought the vibes.’
How did you prepare for such an epic swim?
Ed told the Echo, ‘Normally for a swim like this I would be building to 40 kms per week in the pool for a month or so out from the swim. I did this for Taupo and it worked.
‘I have been battling with a slight shoulder injury so I mixed up my training with running and cycling to keep my fitness going whilst resting my shoulder, but when my shoulder felt okay I was at the pool.
‘It was very hard going from the tropical Northern Rivers to the frosty South Island of New Zealand. When we arrived in Tekapo it was around 3 degrees C and everyone was walking around in snow gear.
‘I probably should have spent some time doing some ice baths but I didn’t. I just did as many laps as I could and stayed as fit as I could whilst working full time and making sure my dog got plenty of runs at the beach.’
What do you take away from this, personally? ‘After swimming across both Taupo and Tekapo, I learned that you really can achieve big goals if you really put your mind to it, you can do anything you want. It might involve some pain but you can always dig deeper.
‘I also had incredible support from my friends and family and I was lucky enough to work with marathon swimming legend Phil Rush on both of my big swims. Phil is a hero of mine and I can now call him a good friend. He has done the most incredible things in swimming (like three laps non-stop of the English Channel and two laps of Lake Taupo, 80kms) which takes huge amounts of guts, strength and grit.
‘I have been lucky enough to meet some awesome people through doing things like this, so that is pretty epic.’
Ed also said he wanted to thank Engine Swim, who supplied his caps and goggles.
‘These were super comfy and I didn’t have to change my goggles or anything at all over the nearly eight hours of swimming. I use Engine Swim goggles and caps during my training so I was very glad to be able to wear these swimming across Tekapo.’
What’s next?
‘I am definitely keen to swim across more big lakes in New Zealand,’ said Ed.
‘There are plenty and a lot of them are bigger and colder than Tekapo so I just have to work out where to next. Lake Pukaki is on the list, but it is a lot bigger and colder than Tekapo, so that would take some serious training.’
The Make-A-Wish fundraiser is still open, and the link to the page is here.
We have raised nearly $3000 so far,’ said Ed Mason. ‘It would be awesome to raise some more funds.’
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