The physical effort as he battles currents, coldness and wind is massive, but the mental challenge of ploughing on alone for hours on end is even more testing.
Neil Gilson, a father of three from Devon, is about to set off on the next leg of his attempt to become the first person to swim the 10 largest lakes in Switzerland, a total of about 230 miles.
If 39-year-old Gilson succeeds, Guinness World Records is expected to recognise him as the first to complete the Legend of the Lakes challenge and in subsequent years, other ultra-swimmers may try to do it more quickly.
Gilson, a former international swimmer, is undertaking the challenge to draw attention to a neuropsychiatric condition that affected his son Jack when aged 18 months. “It is a huge mental and physical challenge, but I’m determined to complete it to raise awareness of the condition that changed my son’s life,” he said.
Gilson was once ranked second in Britain for the 1500-metre freestyle and after finishing race swimming, turned to endurance challenges. In 2024, he did a world record swim across Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), completing 45 miles in 22 hours and nine minutes. But that was not enough. “I love the lakes and the scenery and came up with the idea of the 10 largest lakes in Switzerland because it just sounded like a big, exciting challenge.”
Gilson, who runs the family’s hotel, trains at a leisure centre (dawn in the pool and night-time in the gym after the children have gone to bed) and the sea off the north Devon coast.
Neil Gilson has already swum two of the Swiss lakes – Lugano and Constance – with a support boat on hand. Photograph: Liam Tancock
But he said the lakes were much more demanding than the sea. “They’re more unpredictable. With the sea you know the tide times so you can calculate your swim to get the tidal push, but you can’t do that in the lakes.
“You can get some really choppy conditions because of the wind. These lakes have almost got their own climates because they’re such big bodies of water. There could be bright sunshine a mile away but over the lake there’s thunderstorms,” he said.
The water temperature of the Swiss lakes at this time of year is broadly comparable to the sea off north Devon – about 20C – but Gilson said the problem was that you could hit “walls” of cold water. “The cold patches can get you – places where the water is cold because of runoff from the Alps. It’s not a consistent temperature.”
Gilson has already swum two of the lakes: Lugano (18 miles) and Constance (39 miles). This month he will take on Neuchâtel (23 miles, about 10 hours of swimming) and Biel (nine miles, five hours). He plans to do the other six next year.
On Constance, the biggest challenge was the effect of the Rhine. “The current flow is huge there,” said Gilson. In Léman – one of next year’s targets – there is a whirlpool effect to negotiate. “We’ll try to loop around that.”
While he needs to be super fit, being mentally prepared is even more important. “I would say it’s 30% physical fitness, 70% mental. I don’t think about the swim as a whole. I won’t think I’ve got a 70km swim. I’ll just be thinking I’m going to go in and swim, stroke after stroke.
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‘It’s 30% physical fitness, 70% mental,’ says Gilson. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The Guardian
“I swim to the next feed – I stop every half hour for a drink, every hour for food – and I think about that hour and what I can achieve in that hour. I also tell myself, ‘I’m in here by choice’, and the reason why is to help people like my son so that gives you a bit of a superpower.”
It can also be meditative. “You just relax, try not to overthink and just be in the moment. The phrase I use is ‘time is timeless’. I also have these chants – each stroke I’ll repeat the names of my family members. You need these techniques because it is lonely. Though you’re in these beautiful settings, really all I’m looking at is the support boat. I breathe to the same side and the support boat is on my right every time so it’s just the same view.”
Gilson is raising awareness and funds for children affected by Pans and Pandas, conditions that affect the brain. People with Pans or Pandas experience a variety of symptoms, ranging from mental health symptoms to changes in behaviour and difficulties with movement.
His son was diagnosed with Pandas after catching tonsillitis. “He went to bed a happy, healthy little boy, and woke up as someone we didn’t recognise – he was gripped by aggression, OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder], tics and intense fear; he refused to eat, wouldn’t leave the house or even speak. It was terrifying.”
Jack is now nine and doing well. “I’m sharing our story through this challenge to help other families still searching for answers,” Neil said.
