Martyn Webster - Lake Lugano

Agno CH to Porlezza IT

29.9 km (18.6 miles)

9 hours, 25 minutes on 1 June 2024

Observed and documented by Flurin Caviezel and Alexander Nikitenko

First

Contents

Swimmer

  • Name: Martyn Webster
  • Gender: male
  • Age on swim date: 57
  • Nationality: British
  • Resides: Rapperswil, Switzerland

Support Personnel

Observers

Escort Vessel

Rajo 430 rented from New Wave boat rental, Lugano, Switzerland.


Swim Parameters

  • Category: Solo, nonstop, unassisted.
  • Rules: MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, without exception or modification.
  • Equipment used: Textile swimsuit (Funky Trunks sidewinder brief), silicone cap, goggles (Swans SRX), earplugs.

Route Definition

Starting in Agno, Switzerland and following the curve of the land heading towards Lugano. Passing Mercote and then under the Ponte Diga Di Melide at Bissone (via boat tunnel) and then keeping right following the course of the land into Italy and finishing in Porlezza at the Panama Beach Club.

  • Body of Water: Lake Lugano
  • Route Type: one-way
  • Start Location: Beach TCS Camp site, Agno, Switzerland (45.993851, 8.908618)
  • Finish Location: Panama Beach bathing area, Porlezza, Italy (46.031631, 9.123224)
  • Minimum Route Distance: 29.9 km (18.6 miles) (map)

History

There is a long history of swim races across between Caprino and Lido di Lugano (2.5Km), with races running for 90 or more years.

From my research there has been one tandem solo swim between Agno and Lugano (20km) in 2012 completed by Roberta Bernet (CH) and Christian Pfeiffer CH) without the aid of wetsuit but with tow floats – with the swim being completed in 6hr.

Hanno nuotato per 20 km da Agno a Lugano - Ticinonline (tio.ch)

I could also find that there was one further crossing between Agno and Porlezza by Georgia Polese in 2012. She completed the swim in 17hrs 32 minutes with the aid of wet suit and other swim aids.

https://www.giornaletrentino.it/cronaca/trento/polese-a-nuoto-attraverso-il-lago-di-lugano-1.969363

But I can find no documented evidence of anyone swimming this route. However, I am aware that Jennifer Dutton (USA), swam the same route in summer 2023, but hasn’t submitted any documentation to date.


Swim Data

  • Start: 1 June 2024, 08:57:00 (Central European Summer Time, Europe/Zurich, UTC2).
  • Finish: 1 June 2024, 18:22:45
  • Elapsed: 9 hours, 25 minutes, 45 seconds.

Summary of Conditions

Feature Min Max
Water Temp (C) 18.5 19.4
Air Temp (C) 16.5 24.2
Wind (kph) 2 17

GPS Track

Trackpoint frequency: 10 minutes. Download raw data (CSV).

Click to expand map.

Speed Plot

Nutrition: See log.

Weather Data


Observer Log

Download PDF


Swimmer Statement

by Martyn Webster

What inspired you to do this swim?

Lago di Lugano/Lake Lugano is a 3-hr. drive away where I live in Switzerland. My wife and I have visited many times over the last 10 and we just love the place. It is situated between the more famous lakes of Lake Maggiore and Lake Como but is in my eyes the most beautiful of the 3 lakes.

It is stunning because of the terrain. There are mountains rising directly out of the water for much of the lake. With Mount Salvatore to the west, Mount San Giorgio the south and Mount Bre to the east of the city of Lugano, the lake itself just wraps itself around these peaks.

When most people think of Italian lakes (even though this swim starts in Switzerland) I am sure in their minds eye they would picture Lake Lugano. It is tree lined, with beautiful villas and cultural gems like the village of Morecote.

Describe how you planned for the swim.

Planning for the swim started in earnest back in 2023. I had planned to swim in May 2023 and had all my logistics set up for then. Unfortunately, during this period every day there was rain and amazing thunder and lightning storms. After sitting in Lugano for 4 days watching this, I decided I wanted to live a little longer and not risk being fried and thought best to reschedule for later in the year or the next year. As I had paid for the support boat and pilot for sure I was going to come back to this one.

2023 turned out to be a bit of a tumultuous year for me personally and I had to postpone some other of my swims due to my mother passing away in the summer and other work and swim commitments, meaning I never got around to it.

Normally in November each year I try and put a skeleton plan together for the following year and I contacted New Wave boats to check they would still honour our agreement. They said yes so, I penciled this in for the end of May as a first swim in 2024, Then in March 2024 I contacted New Wave Boats in Lugano again and fixed it on the last week in May. However, based on last years’ experience I decided to sit tight at home until a few days before the swim date until I could see there was a good weather window.

I have many people that support me on my swims and always a bit reluctant to keep asking the same group but as it happened the same supporters, I had for my Lake Constance swim in 2024, Alex and Flurin, were available and happy to come down to Lugano for the weekend. As the week progressed the weather just got better, and it really developed into the perfect day for a swim.

How did the swim go, generally? Did you face any unanticipated challenges?

Generally, things went well. There were some logistics problems to deal with. The start and finish are in different places and the boat is located in another. This meant we would leave the car at the start and then must go back the following day to recover.

On the day of the swim our pilot realized he didn’t have enough fuel. So, we lost an hour at the start with him having to go find a fuel station and fill up the boat fuel tank. Not ideal. However, once this was resolved all was ok.

Conditions at the start and most of the day were perfect with very little wind at all, perfect water temperature at 18 deg C and the air heating up to mid-20s as the day progressed.

As the weather was so good there were a few wake boarders and water skiers creating chop, but apart from this swim conditions were great. I just enjoyed the swim and the scenery.

One hazard was the bridge at Bessoni. I had expected to go through the left-hand entrance but had to swim further across to the right and take a separate channel for small boats. This meant also treading water for a few minutes as there was a traffic light controlling entry and exit to the tunnel.

Once through all was good until the last hour when the wind picked up and a rainstorm crossed the lake. My crew saw lightning down the lake and heard thunder during this period and informed me, but I decided to swim on and finish the swim and all was good.

Landing at the Panama Beach in Porlezza the heavens opened. No one was there to greet me. Just a sole Lido attendant packing up the sunbeds. Such is life. But I was satisfied with my swim, happy with the time and swam back to the boat to get dry and enjoy the ride back.

Probably this was the most enjoyable swim I have ever done. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting to swim a beautiful 30km.


Photos

Click to enlarge.


Video