Teen battles jellyfish and strong currents to swim North Channel solo
Oscar Black, from Lurgan, County Armagh, swam from the Gobbins to Portpatrick last Wednesday in 16 hours and 38 minutes.
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As the crow flies, the two locations are 35km (21.7 miles) apart but due to strong currents Oscar swam a total of 46km (28.5 miles).
The Lurgan College student said it was "hard to explain" the emotions he was feeling after his record-breaking swim.
The Gobbins cliff-face runs from Whitehead to Portmuck Harbour in County Antrim [Getty Images]
When he was 14, he completed the channel swim as part of a relay team.
He told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that he had to overcome jellyfish, strong currents and swimming in the wrong direction to set a new record.
He had up to 20 jellyfish stings, "all over my body, from my feet to my nose", he said.
"There was a few times when I was contemplating why am I doing this," he added.
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"It was more of a mental challenge than an actual physical challenge."
But Oscar says "it was all worth it in the end".
Jessica Robson supported Oscar during his swim [BBC]
Jessica Robson was Oscar's support swimmer for the challenge.
She said it was her job to "get in and swim with him to make sure he was sane".
"It was a very emotional swim to watch," she said.
"I got in with him from hour four to five and hour eight to nine.
"I had to swim into Scotland with him as he started going the wrong way."
'Tired and exhausted'
After finishing the open water swim and standing upright on the shore in Scotland, Oscar found out that he had to swim back to the boat.
Due to shallow water, the boat was unable to dock close to the shore.
"I couldn't believe it, I was tired and exhausted," he added.
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New York Times
4 minutes ago
- New York Times
The story of the 2025 swimming world championships in 15 photos
The swimming program of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships concluded Sunday in Singapore, ending an unusual stretch of four straight years of swimming worlds, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic's disruptions to the Olympic schedule in 2020 and 2021. We won't see the world's best swimmers all in the same pool again until the 2027 worlds in Budapest, Hungary, with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to follow. Advertisement There were notable absences from these worlds, with some swimmers taking time off after last year's Olympic grind. Team USA dealt with a stomach illness that forced some top swimmers to withdraw from their events and likely affected the performance of others. And with three years to go until the next Olympics, plenty can change. Still, there was a lot to take away from the week. Here's the story of the 2025 world championships in photos, with an eye forward to the L.A. Games. 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Those were her first two individual gold medals in long-course international competition. She's on track to be a top contender for multiple golds in Los Angeles. Much of the focus this week was on how McIntosh had passed Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle and might catch her in the 800, too. In between, Ledecky left no doubt she still dominates at the 1,500-meter distance (which McIntosh doesn't race). She took gold Tuesday with the fifth-best time in the event's history, 15:26.44, and has now won the 1,500 all eight times she's contested it in an Olympics or world championships. It was a little closer than normal, though, thanks to a stellar swim from Italian Simona Quadarella, whose 15:31.79 made her the only swimmer besides Ledecky to finish it in under 15:38. Ledecky has done that 25 times. There's every reason to think she'll still be the clear favorite when the L.A. Games arrive. Advertisement The Australian keeps winning gold medals and being a thorn in American Regan Smith's side. She beat Smith twice in individual events at these world championships, taking the title in both the 100- (pictured) and 200-meter backstroke in Singapore. Smith is the world-record holder in the 100, and also held the 200 mark for nearly four years, but McKeown keeps winning on the biggest stages. The American has now taken silver behind McKeown in both events in each of the last three major meets involving them — two world championships and the Paris Olympics. The 24-year-old Aussie now has six world championship golds to go with her five Olympic titles. This rivalry should be simmering throughout the lead-up to L.A. Ryan Lochte's 14-year-old world record in the men's 200-meter individual medley was in big trouble the moment French sensation Léon Marchand said he was dropping his other two specialty events to focus on the 200- and 400-meter IM. And Marchand didn't even wait for the final to break the mark. In his semifinal swim Wednesday, he finished in 1:52.69, shaving more than a second off the longstanding record. The winner of four gold medals in his home Olympics last summer, Marchand won both IMs in Singapore and appears well on his way to similar feats in L.A. It's tough luck for Regan Smith that she keeps running into Kaylee McKeown. It's been even tougher for Katharine Berkoff, Smith's U.S. teammate, who has had to deal with both of the sport's best backstrokers. Berkoff has finished in bronze position behind them in major meets a few times, but on Thursday, she got her breakthrough, winning her first major individual gold in the 50-meter. McKeown was not in the field, but Berkoff beat Smith to get the title. The 50-meter events in the backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly all took on extra meaning at these worlds — they'll be included in the Olympic program for the first time in Los Angeles. 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Now 28, King was 19 when she went toe-to-toe with Russia's Yulia Efimova in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Rio Olympics and won. She just missed a medal in the 50-meter breaststroke on Sunday, then picked up one more gold for the road when the U.S. women's 4×100-meter medley relay team won gold — she swam that in the prelims. McIntosh finished 4-for-5 in her quest for five individual gold medals in Singapore. Only Michael Phelps (2007) has ever won five at a single world championships, and only Ledecky (2015) and fellow Americans Ryan Lochte (2011) and Caeleb Dressel (2019) have ever won four. McIntosh joined the club Sunday with her win in the 400-meter IM. Just 18, she's likely going to be even better in 2028. The U.S. and Australia were tied atop the gold-medal count with one event to go. Fortunately for the Americans, it was one of their strongest events. 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