Dead Sea Swim
A team of international swimmers has completed a historic 17km swim across the Dead Sea from Jordan to Israel. It was to highlight the fact the sea is disapp...
In November 2016, I joined an international delegation of open water swimmers from around the world in an unprecedented swim across the Dead Sea.
At 40 miles long, and 11 miles across at its widest point, the Dead Sea is strategically situated on the border of Israel and Jordan. A region that is often brought to our attention for political, rather than environmental reasons. Because 95% of the water from the Jordan River Basin is now diverted to agriculture in Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, the Dead Sea is at serious risk of disappearing in our lifetime. The Sea is shrinking at a rate of 1 meter per year, with the shoreline receding by a further 5 meters.
It is with this sense of purpose that we were able to use our skills as open water swimmers to give this critical body of water the international significance and awareness that it rightly deserves, amplifying the efforts of conservationists at EcoPeace Middle East.
This swim had never been attempted before for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the 34% concentration of salinity making it 10 times more saline than the ocean. The risks are potentially fatal if the water is ingested which is why we all wore specialized face masks and were accompanied by an experienced team of medics.
As one of 28 swimmers from South Africa, England, America, Jordan, Israel, and New Zealand, I was but one small component of this massive undertaking. We received diplomatic approval from both the Israelis and Jordanians. We were supported by a flotilla of seven support boats, which traveled together to accommodate the needs and abilities of each swimmer. As swimmers we encountered many challenges, not the least of which was taking the mask off every 30 minutes to hydrate (the water was very warm, a very balmy 78 degrees) while risking the severe pain caused by even the smallest drop of Dead Sea water in our eyes.
The swim took us 7 hours to complete, creating a new world record, and the very real possibility of saving the Dead Sea.
