Ross Edgley to finish Great British swim around the coastline in Margate
Published: 12:00, 03 November 2018
The finish line is finally in sight for a man who set off five months ago to complete an epic 2,000 mile swim.
Ross Edgley began his venture around mainland Great Britain from Margate on June 1.
Tomorrow, the athlete adventure will return to the seaside town, making history in the process as he will become the first person to swim around the country.
That means the 33-year-old would have completed an incredible 157 days without stepping foot on land once.
Since his send-off from the mayor of Margate - Cllr Julie Dellar - in summer, he has battled storm Callum, storm Ali, hundreds of jellyfish stings and a disintegrating tongue caused by salt water - but none of this has been enough to quash his efforts.
To mark Ross returning to Margate Harbour, in partnership with the outdoor swimming society, more than 300 people will swim alongside him for the final stretch of his journey.
Ross, of Grantham, said: "I honestly cannot wait.
"The people of Margate were fantastic at the start of this whole thing, so for it to come full circle now is really nice.
"The Mayor was so supportive at the start and I believe that she has even been exchanging messages with my mum about the finish.
"I don't know what to fully expect, but hopefully as many people as possible can meet me at the finish line because the support on social media has been amazing."
In order to get ready for the radical adjustment, Ross has been undertaking daily exercises to ensure his land legs are back in time for the beach.
Ross has smashed a number of records since the swim began.
In mid-August, he broke the work record for the longest staged sea swim of 73 days, set by Benoît Lecomte who swam across the Atlantic Ocean in 1998.
Then in September, he became the first ever Britain to swim from Lands' End to John O'Groats (900 miles) in just 62 days.
However, when he makes it back into Margate, he'll officially become the first person in history to have swam the entire coastline of mainland Great Britian.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Ross has previously rope climbed the equivalent height of Mount Everest (8,848m) inside 24 hours, completed a triathlon with a tree strapped to his back, and finished a marathon while dragging a Mini Cooper.
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Katie Davis