By Giulia Bertoglio and Vanessa Mills, ABC News
Andy Donaldson was greeted by Kununurra locals as he set a new world record in the remote Kimberley’s Ord River.
Photo: ABC Kimberley / Giulia Bertoglio
An Australian marathon swimmer has set a world record by swimming 55 kilometres in 11 hours and 51 minutes in Western Australia’s north.
Ultra-swimmer Andy Donaldson started the challenge through red cliffs, fast currents and thousands of freshwater crocodiles just after 5am on Tuesday at the Lake Argyle Dam wall, reaching the Diversion Dam in Kununurra after 5pm.
“The last kilometre of the swim is really, really special,” he said as he emerged from the water, cheered on by locals.
Simone Blaser, the first person to do the Ord River ultra swim two years ago in 16 hours and 13 minutes, accompanied Donaldson on his challenge and even swam a stretch with him.
An adventurous swim
Donaldson is no stranger to extreme challenges as he has broken multiple world records and is the first person to complete the Ocean Sevens in a year.
The memory of the white cliffs of Dover disappearing behind him as he set a record-breaking swim across the English Channel was etched in his mind as he prepared for his longest solo swim challenge through the red cliffs of the Ord.
Andy Donaldson completed his record-breaking swim down the Ord River in just under 12 hours.
Photo: ABC Kimberley / Giulia Bertoglio
But Donaldson said he was “blown away” by the Kimberley’s unique environment.
“I think that’s probably the best place where I’ve ever swam in my life,” he said.
“I think that swim could really become a bucket list challenge for any swimmers around the world.”
The Scottish-Australian swimmer was well aware that while the Ord is monster-free, he was going to share the water with thousands of freshwater crocodiles.
He said he was not worried about swimming in the upper Ord, a popular recreational spot for locals.
“You are in their environment in their home, you need to be respectful,” Donaldson said.
“It is a beautiful thing that we get to share the water with nature”.
But Donaldson reassured a child asking him if he had any close encounters with crocs that he only saw the ones on his coach’s feet.
Andy Donaldson swam down the Ord River through rugged red cliffs.
Photo: ABC Kimberley / Giulia Bertoglio
The why powering him on
Donaldson said the dam-to-dam swim, which had been planned for the last 13 months, was not just a personal challenge but a “celebration of all things swimming”.
He was invited to Kununurra by local photographer and swim club president Ben Broady, who said not having a public pool for two years had negatively impacted local children’s swimming skills and water awareness.
“It’s like having a kid missing school for two years, it’s not good,” he said.
The ultra-swimmer visited East Kimberley schools and ran clinics, hoping to inspire locals to stay active and physically and mentally healthy in the remote community, where a new Olympic-sized pool will open in the next couple of months.
Andy Donaldson (right) with local swim club president Ben Broady (left).
Photo: ABC Kimberley / Giulia Bertoglio
Kununurra teenager Chyanne said swimming in the Ord River was “refreshing and very calming”, but she looked forward to swimming in a “bigger and better” pool.
In the meantime, she got the chance to swim in the same lane as Mr Donaldson in the nearby town of Wyndham and felt inspired.
“It made me very confident about myself,” Chyanne said.
Chyanne says she loves swimming in the Ord River but looks forward to the opening of Kununurra’s new pool.
Photo: ABC Kimberley / Giulia Bertoglio
Donaldson said sharing the challenge with a team and having a supportive community behind him gave him the extra drive needed.
“You might be the only one swimming, but you have people in your corner, by your side through thick and thin,” he said.
Donaldson explained endurance sports were more about mindset than pure fitness.
“You are spending hours alone with your own thoughts and that can be tough and isolating and lonely,” he said.
But having a “powerful why” behind each challenge propelled him forward.
“When you do a swim for something bigger than yourself, you find strength you never knew you had,” he said.
– ABC