ROXOA Group’s Copywriter Achieves Wild-Swimming World First

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, September 10, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Last Sunday ROXOA Group’s copywriter, Jack Hudson, washed-up onto the mud flats of the Solway Firth in Cumbria. On either side of him were his two brothers, Robbie, the eldest brother, and Calum, the middle brother. Together they had just completed a record-breaking 90 mile swim of the River Eden. It had taken them nine days of mingled drudgery and pleasure. It was also the end of an adventure a year in the making. Throughout that year the brothers had undertaken countless sessions of swim training and cold water preparation. Robbie, who works as an artist in Berlin, could be seen sluggishly crawling up and down a long Olympic Pool. Calum, a London-based Sales Manager, who planned and publicised the expedition, was in and out of the icy Serpentine Lido, whilst also completing various Celtmans, Ironmans and other staggering ultra-triathlons. Then there was Jack, who could, on a rare occasion, be found in the ruffled, brain-freeze-inducing waters of the North Sea. Eventually their training culminated in one final session, which saw the three brothers united for a crossing of the world’s third largest whirlpool, the Corryvreckan. In the afternoon, two weeks before the Eden expedition, they were taken out by boat to the iconic Scottish island of Jura. Even in the slack tide the whirlpool was raging, so much so that the captain even contemplated turning back. However the brothers soon got in and made it across, tormented by the swirling currents, yet supported by their cheering mum and confused spaniel. Their speedy time of twenty-five minutes – despite the conditions – was the reassurance they needed for their impending Eden challenge. That being said, though, Jack did admit to ROXOA that it was "the hardest thing [he’d] ever done."

One thing that made the Eden swim so important to the Hudson brothers was the significance of the river itself. They knew that half way through the swim the waterway would meander past the garden of their childhood home, which their mum had recently sold. To them the Eden was a reminder of a childhood spent jumping from rocky stacks, kayaking and swimming with their friends in summer. This deeply personal undertaking, which has raised over two thousand pounds for the Swimming Trust, became known as ‘Swim the Eden’ and was sponsored by the likes of Speedo, High Five, Ascendancy Apparel and Buff, among others. It began at the source of the Eden on the border of Yorkshire, where a mossy volcano spilled a trickle of red water that snaked through deep bogs and sodden marshlands. Then the brothers scrambled through narrow gorges, plunging down rapids and waterfall slides. Nine days later they floated out onto the vast estuaries of the Solway Firth. Close to the end one of their support kayakers became submerged up to his knees in ‘quick-mud’ and had to be dragged out. Yet in spite of adversity the whole team made it and the brothers emerged triumphant – a bedraggled trinity, each wearing matching grins as they clambered out of the fast-flowing water and staggered into the nearest pub.

In the end, the Hudson brothers’ achievement made BBC News and captured the attention of the outdoor swimming community. Jack told ROXOA that it wouldn’t have been possible without the overwhelming support they received, from the old lady who stood on a bridge in the middle of nowhere and called out encouragement, to the adventure leader, James Silson, who filmed and photographed the whole thing. The ROXOA Group are very proud to have supported and sponsored Jack and his brothers. They only hope that it will encourage more people to don their Speedos (or, more realistically, their baggy board shorts) and venture out into the wild waterways of Britain.