Water walker

[prev] …an hour and a half, darting alongside him and lifting his spirits as he headed for South Island. This is remarkable in itself – few dolphins swim with humans for that long, preferring instead to briefly play before disappearing to frolic elsewhere. What is even more remarkable is the timing of the dolphins’ appearance, and what they may actually have been doing. ‘I saw a fin coming towards me and thought it might be a shark – but it turned out to be not one, but a whole pod of dolphins. The dolphins surrounded me as they swam alongside. At one point I looked down and then I really did see a shark, drifting along just a few metres below me. It’s as if the dolphins were trying to protect me.

‘The dolphins chose to do swim with me on their terms. It was quite humbling and I count myself very fortunate to have experienced such a wonder of nature’

‘Dolphins swim much faster than humans so they were essentially dawdling at my pace. Even when I came in for my half-hourly energy drink they just waited in the water for me, bobbing about until I was ready to continue.’ The story takes a further twist when you learn that Adam is raising money for the charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation. Clearly those clever dolphins knew to look after one of their own.

‘The whole encounter was just incredible,’ says Adam. ‘Words really don’t do it justice. The dolphins chose to do swim with me on their terms. It was quite humbling and I count myself very fortunate to have experienced such a wonder of nature.’

One of the three currents that rips through the Cook Strait threatened to push him towards a couple of large rocks and out to sea

But with just 6km to go Adam’s elation turned to near panic as, five hours in, one of the three currents that rips through the Cook Strait threatened to push him towards a couple of large rocks and out to sea. ‘If I’d have gone east of the rocks I wouldn’t have hit land and the challenge would be over. So I had to sprint for about an hour and a half to get across. This is why these swims are so relentless – you can go five hours and just when you think you’re almost done you have to pick up the pace. I really had to go for it!’

Adam has taken on the Cook Strait and, with the help of his dolphins and considerable determination towards the end. He has managed to conquer one of the most formidable stretches of water in the world. His next and final challenge, on 18th August, is the Irish Channel that separates Northern Ireland from Scotland. At 35km it’s a step up from the Cook Strait in distance, but at least Adam won’t have to worry about great white sharks!

To read Adam Walker’s personal accounts of his swims, or to help sponsor his Irish Channel swim and raise money for Whale and Dolphin Conservation, head to his website www.adamwalkeroceans7.co.uk