Record-breaking adventurer Ross Edgley gets honorary degree

An extreme adventurer who became the first person to swim around the UK without setting foot on land has been awarded an honorary doctorate.

Ross Edgley, 33, from Grantham, braved strong tides, storms and jellyfish when he completed his 1,780-mile swim last year.

Part of his tongue also disintegrated during the record-breaking challenge from salt water exposure.

Edgley was awarded the honour by Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln.

"To be considered for an honorary doctorate at the university of my home county is an incredible honour," he said.

"I don't who's more excited; my mum, dad or me."

He described the coastal swimming challenge as "a giant, sea-based, sports science experiment", and said he looked forward to sharing his findings into human resilience with universities across the country.

Mr Edgley set a new record 74 days into his challenge, for the longest staged sea swim, according to the World Open Water Swimming Association.

He is already in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's longest rope climb - a feat he achieved in April 2016.

Mr Edgley repeatedly pulled himself up and down a 10m (32ft 10in) rope until he had climbed 8,848m (29,029ft) - the equivalent of Mount Everest.

The adventurer also took part in a 2009 BBC Three reality show called Tough Guy or Chicken?

He was part of a group which travelled the in search of tough challenges, including a jungle initiation in the Amazon and a pilgrimage to the summit of a sacred mountain in Japan.

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