LAPPING IT UP
Matt Newbury travelled to Lapland with his husband Aaron and friend Queenie to take part in a truly unique swim across the Arctic Circle
When you tell people you are travelling to Lapland to swim across the Arctic Circle, it provokes a satisfying reaction from friends and colleagues. This is mainly down to a bit of geographical naivety, as people presuming you will be swimming past polar bears sat atop icebergs, while dodging between penguins and killer whales. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. While it is an epic experience, it is one that is achievable by most swimmers, with the real challenge being how you get to the somewhat remote starting point.
What really attracted us to this event was just how unique it was. The swim traverses the Torne River between Finland and Sweden, crossing both the international date line and the Arctic Circle. And as the swim starts at 12.05am, if you can swim the 3km in under 55 minutes, you arrive the day before you set off. This area is also known as the “land of the midnight sun,” meaning even though you are swimming in the middle of the night, it’s light all the way.