Dolphin Surrounds Swimmer And When He Looks Down He Realizes What Is Beneath Him

Adam Walker

Adam Walker grew up in Nottingham, U.K. Growing up, he loved sports. When he was a teenager, he played cricket and rugby in high school. His brother was athletic as well and their father, Peter, was always on the sidelines cheering for the boys. Unfortunately, Adam suffered from back and knee injuries, and he could no longer play the contact sports that he loved. Being the true athlete that he was, he decided to take up competitive swimming because his previous injuries wouldn’t be able to affect the way that he swam.

Following In His Family’s Footsteps

When Adam graduated from university, he decided to follow in his family’s footsteps and begin a career in sales. He was smart and dedicated and was able to work his way up to national salesman. He was really making a name for himself in business, but he always felt like there was something missing in his life. In 2006, Adam got on a plane for a family vacation in Australia. The in-flight movie was called On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. It was about a man who decided to swim the English Channel after losing his job. After seeing the film, Adam was so inspired that he decided to do the same thing. He set a date to do it, and he started training for the swim.

Pushing Himself

Before deciding to swim the English Channel, Adam’s life revolved around work. He knew that his stamina and endurance were going to be pushed to the limit. He had to prepare himself physically and mentally. He had to get his body used to the cold water and the strong currents. He also had to learn to avoid dangerous marine life. Planning and preparing took a while, and he worked hard to prepare.

The Swim

Adam was ready, and on July 14, 2008, he conquered the English Channel, but it wasn’t easy. He got sick from the swells and the currents. He also ruptured a tendon in his bicep, but he knew that he had to soldier on. He said he felt like he was in a washing machine. He reached his goal, and he set a new one. He wanted to swim the Strait of Gibraltar. It was a shorter distance, and the water was warmer. On July 5, 2011, he swam the Strait back and forth. He became the first British person to achieve this goal. While Adam was training, she heard about a long-distance swimming marathon called Oceans Seven. Since the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar were on the list, he was already ahead of the game. He was determined to swim all seven on the list. He wasn’t prepared for what happened when he tried to swim the Cook Strait.

Conquering the Ocean Seven

Adam managed to swim through the Molokai Strait in Hawaii, the Catalina Channel in California, the Tsugaru Strait in Japan, and the North Channel between Great Britain and Ireland. He is one of only ten swimmers and the only British on to complete the challenge so far. It took him six years to complete the marathon. He had many experiences during his swims but nothing like the experience he had with a group of dolphins.

Troubles in the Water

After tearing his bicep, he had to have three surgeries to have it repaired. His doctors told him he had to stop swimming so he developed a new way to swim that wouldn’t reinjure his bicep. When e was swimming the Molokai Strait, he was already swimming for 17 hours and two minutes when he was stung by a dangerous jellyfish called the Portuguese man o’ war. After being stung, he couldn’t feel his spine for five minutes, but he didn’t give up. He had to pull the tentacles off his stomach, and he felt like he was paralyzed. When he tried to take on the Catalina Channel in California, he was terrified. He saw six of the 12 hours in complete darkness because the swim began at midnight.

Dangerous Surroundings

During his swim of the Tsugaru Channel in Japan, Adam felt sick for the first four hours. There was a shark swimming underneath him, and due to the speed of the current, he had to swim much faster than normal. He was trying to swim through 12-foot-high waves while swim sprinting for 11 hours. During this time, he was stung in the face by a tiny jellyfish. He said that his chest got tight and his shoulders were sore. It was one of his scariest swims. While swimming in the freezing cold waters of the North Chanel between Ireland and Scotland, he came face to face with a lion’s mane of jellyfish. He completed the swim in pain after being stung by the jellyfish a few times, and it took 10 hours and 45 minutes.

The Cook Strait

It was April 22, 2014, when Adam tried to conquer the Cook Strait. The waters were known for being dangerous and unpredictable. During this swim, he wore a GPS tracker so that people could follow his progress. He was three hours into the swim when he was feeling great. He didn’t feel sick, and he didn’t need to stop and rest every hour or so. This took a dramatic change for the worst when he felt a fin move past him. He didn’t know what it was, but he started to panic. He calmed down when he realized that it was a school of dolphins that was circling him. He was happy that they were there, but he didn’t know why. There had to be some reason that a school of dolphins was circling him. The dolphins surround swimmer; when he looks down he realizes what lies beneath him.

A Shark!

Adam knew that he was swimming in waters where sharks were commonly seen. He just wasn’t prepared to come so close to one. He tried to remain calm, and he knew that the dolphins were protecting him, but he didn’t know if that would be enough. He had been training for so long, and he was always hours into the swim, he didn’t want to stop. The dolphins were protecting him, so he continued his swim. Soon, the shark was gone, but his protectors remained close by. At the end of the swim, he felt sick and exhausted, but he reached his goal. Today, he holds the world record for completing a two and three-way swim of the English Channel in the quickest time. He says that he has the dolphins to thanks. They saved his life and they also save what he calls his life’s dream.