Loch Ness swim to raise funds for early education in Nepal

Local man Chris Keightley-Pugh is one of four swimmers who will attempt a 42-kilometre relay swim across Loch Ness in August to raise funds for early childhood education in Nepal.

The open-water team consists of James Stuart from Scotland, Iñaki Guezuraga and Ricardo Arana from Spain, and Mr Keightley-Pugh.

They plan to complete the swim in around 14 hours.

Each swimmer will cover approximately 11 kilometres in rotation through “the icy waters and unpredictable weather of one of the world’s most famous and mysterious lakes.”

While the distance itself is a challenge, the real difficulty lies in enduring the freezing temperatures of the loch, which can hover around 10°C even in summer.

Add to that the famously moody Scottish weather and the occasional suspicious ripple which could be ‘Nessie’, the infamous and elusive Loch Ness Monster.

The team previously swam across the Strait of Gibraltar to raise funds for the Fundación Vicente Ferrer.

This year’s challenge will again support the foundation’s work, with funds going towards providing early education for 250 children aged three to six in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

The path that led Mr Keightley-Pugh to his participation in the event was a journey to improve his mental health.

“My wife died of cancer in 2021, we had been together for 30 years. I really struggled in 2022 with grief. It was a serious issue and had a big impact on my mental health,” he told the Chronicle.

“It got to a point when I had to find a way to get better.”

“I was always a swimmer in the past but I had done less because I was dedicating myself to my wife and I had not done so much in open water.”

“I had read about the health benefits of cold water so I started swimming around Gibraltar and pushed myself harder and harder through the winter without a wetsuit and my physical and mental health improved enormously.”

“That led to swimming the Strait in 2023 and last year I swam the Bosphorus crossing from the Asian to European side.”

He also has swum the coastline from Cadiz to Tarifa with his good friend, James Stewart.

“Open water swimming is now an important and integral part of my life. James and I continue to set challenges. This year we’ve decided to swim Loch Ness. James is Scottish and he has a connection with the area,” he said.

“So, Loch Ness is the next challenge and the cold water will make it a more difficult one.”
Fellow swimmer, Mr Arana, focused on the cause and said that doing it for the children will be enough, but if “Nessie decides to join us for a bit, we’ll count it as a bonus.”

Updates on the swim will be shared on social media via @lochnessswim2025. Donations can be made at: https://gofund.me/b5c5716b