A man has set off on an epic 62-mile swim from Fort William to Inverness.
Ross O’Sullivan, a civil engineer from County Cork, aims to be the fastest person to swim across Scotland from the sea on the west coast to the east coast.
The 25-year-old, who set off at the weekend, plans to complete his adventure on Friday and will be raising money for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital.
The previous record for the swim was in eight days and Mr O’Sullivan plans to complete it in six.
He said: “I swam the River Severn recently and I was looking for one more adventure before the cold water comes in. I went to Scotland a few times as a young fella and fell in love with the rugged, unspoiled landscape.”
Mr O’Sullivan is swimming across Loch Lochy, which is 9.9 miles long, until he reaches the Caledonian Canal, which connects with Loch Oich.
He will continue down the River Oich, which he expects to be the most dangerous stretch of the adventure, with shallow fast sections and rapids.
He will then swim 22 miles across Loch Ness.
He added: “After the magnificent Loch Ness, we have our last challenge, which is to swim down River Ness.
“This also looks fast flowing, with rapids present again. I will finish in the sea by Inverness. So I will start in the sea and finish in the sea.”
Mr O’Sullivan said: “It’s weird to think that I will be swimming with 754ft of water under me. What the hell could be under me at that stage? All sorts I’d say, 16ft salmon, three-eyed trout. Who knows?”
Hypothermia will be his biggest worry, with water around 10C.
He said: “I have swum in 10 degrees water before, and it is unbearable. You are a ticking time bomb at this temperature. I wouldn’t be able to sustain swimming in this water temperature for any longer than an hour.”
To support him, visit
rossosullivan.com/swimming-across-scotland