Renowned British adventurer and ultra-swimmer Ross Edgley, 39, is set to launch one of the world’s most extreme open-water challenges: a 1,000-mile (1,609 km) swim around the coast of Iceland. Dubbed the Great Icelandic Swim, the expedition is inspired by none other than Marvel’s Norse god Thor, played by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.
Calling it “the closest thing yet to swimming around Asgard”, Edgley joked that the freezing, unpredictable waters of the North Atlantic are a fitting stage for a mission fit for a Norse god. His three-month odyssey will see him confront killer whales, powerful currents, and temperatures as low as 3°C — all while swimming in some of the most unforgiving conditions on Earth.
Edgley revealed that he was introduced to Hemsworth during the production of Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and that their shared interest in Nordic mythology and physical endurance helped spark this idea. “Chris was just full of questions,” Edgley recalled, describing the actor as an “encyclopaedia of Norse lore.”
That meeting planted the seed for this epic quest, which Edgley now calls his “tribute to Iceland’s mythic wilderness and Hemsworth’s heroic portrayal of Thor.”
No stranger to record-breaking endurance swims, Edgley famously became the first person to swim around the entire coast of Great Britain in 2018. His latest challenge promises to push even his legendary limits.
Speaking ahead of his departure on Friday, he said: “I’m ready for pain, ice, and probably a few whales — but this swim is about testing the edge of human potential while paying homage to the wild beauty of Iceland.”
As Ross Edgley takes on the Great Icelandic Swim, he’s not just circling a nation — he’s redefining what it means to be heroic in the real world.
