Peak and Pond
noun - The Peak and Pond Challenge is a solo achievement by individual adventurers to successfully climb Mt. Everest and swim the English Channel. They are both an Oceans Seven swimmer and a Seven Summitter.
Contents
Members of the Peak and Pond
1. Hugo Rodríguez Barroso (Mexico) - accomplished twice
- Mount Everest summit in 1997
- English Channel crossing on 13 August 1986 in 13 hours 0 minutes
- Mount Everest summit on 6 May 1999
- English Channel crossing on 26 August 1993 in 13 hours 4 minutes
- Mount Everest summit in 2000
2. Eric Blakeley MBE (Jersey)
- Mount Everest summit in May 1997
- English Channel crossing: 24 August 2003 in 20 hours 30 minutes at the age of 38
3. Georgios-Ioannis Tsianos (Greece)
- English Channel crossing on 5 August 2000 in 9 hours 20 minutes
- Mount Everest summit in 2004
4. Matthew J. Williams (Great Britain)
- English Channel crossing on 22 September 2010 in 15 hours 25 minutes
- Mount Everest summit on 23 May 2008
5. Boguslaw Ogrodnik (Poland)
- Mount Everest summit on 18 May 2006
- English Channel crossing on 27 July 2014 in 20 hours 33 minutes
6. Gabriel Viti (USA)
- Mount Everest summit on 22 May 2010
- English Channel crossing on 7 August 2014 in 15 hours 50 minutes
7. Allan McLeland (USA)
- English Channel crossing on 28 September 2008 in 16 hours 10 minutes
- Mount Everest summit on 23 May 2017
8. Jason Snell (Great Britain)
- Mount Everest summit on 15 May 2016
- English Channel crossing on 23 September 2017 in 16 hours 30 minutes
9. Patrick McKnight (USA)
- English Channel crossing on 21 July 2016 in 12 hours 54 minutes
- Mount Everest summit on 18 May 2018
10. Rob Lea (USA)
- Mount Everest summit on 24 May 2019
- English Channel crossing on 10 July 2019 in 11 hours 47 minutes
11. Greg Johnson (Great Britain)
- Mount Everest summit in May 2019
- English Channel crossing on 1 July 2021 in 18 hours 15 minutes
12. Anna Brown (Andorra)
- Mount Everest summit on 22 May 2018
- English Channel crossing in 13 hours 52 minutes on 16 September 2021
13. Jessica Hepburn (Great Britain)
- English Channel crossing in 17 hours 44 minutes on 2 September 2015
- Mount Everest summit on 14 May 2022
14. Robert Gropel (Australia)
- Mount Everest summit on 20 May 2016
- English Channel crossing in 13 hours 20 minutes on 8 September 2023
15. Mitch Hutchcraft (Great Britain)
- Mount Everest summit on 12 May 2025
- English Channel crossing in 18 hours 19 minutes on 14 September 2024
16. Philip Walton (Great Britain)
- Mount Everest summit on 12 May 2022
- English Channel crossing in 18 hours 37 minutes on 17 July 2025
Note about Bill Borger Jr. (Canada)
- English Channel crossing on 9 September 2000 in 12 hours 11 minutes
- Borger claims that he summited Mount Everest on 12 May 2011. However, the authoritative Himalayan database is clear that he did not reach the summit, although he apparently came very close. To clarify this discrepancy, he was contacted by the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame to clarify via email in May 2025.
Other Variations
1. Neal Mueller (U.S.A.) - relay Peak and Pond
- English Channel crossing 2-man relay in 2008
- Mount Everest summit in 2005
2. Charlie Wittmack (U.S.A.) - wetsuit Peak and Pond
- English Channel crossing in a wetsuit in 2004
- Mount Everest summit in 2003 and 2011
Calendar Year Peak and Pond
The Calendar Year Peak and Pond is the solo completion of a crossing of the English Channel and a summit of Mount Everest by a single individual within one calendar year or over a 12-month period.
1. Rob Lea (USA)
Mount Everest summit on 24 May 2019
English Channel crossing on 10 July 2019 in 11 hours 47 minutes
- 47 days apart
English Channel Crossing
Mount Everest Summit
Patrick McKnight becomes the 10th person in history to achieve the Peak and Pond Challenge on 18 May 2018.
External links
- Philip Walton Achieves The Peak And Pond Challenge
- Rob Lea Carries On With The Uniquely Unusual: Climbing, Crawling, Cycling Around The World
- A World's First Coming In 2026? Bogusław Ogrodnik Has Another Attempt Planned For The North Channel
- This Is So Long and So Slow
- Greg Johnson, Heading North Into History
- Greg Johnson Shares A Lifeline While Swimming
- Jessica Hepburn Becomes 2nd Woman, 14th Person in History to Achieve Peak and Pond
- #13 Is A First: Anna Brown Does The Peak and Pond
- Boguslaw Ogrodnik Is Extreme Many Times Over
- 3 Amigos: Hugo Rodríguez, Ivar Sisniega, Antonio Argüelles On WOWSA Live
- Hugo Rodriguez Barroso To Appear On WOWSA Live
- SwimTrekker Rob Lea's Mount Everest and English Channel Challenge
- Bogusław Ogrodnik Joins Open Water Luminaries At TED Talks
- Peak And Pond People
- Borger Peak and Pond
- Mt. Everest - The English Channel of Climbing
- Charlie Wittmack crosses Channel
- Peaks And Ponds - Dryland And Open Water Endurance
- Eric Blakeley, A Man Of Incredible Depth
- Adam Torrens, Absolutely Terrified About Peak And Pond
- The History Of Swimming In The Gulf of Gdańsk
- Polish Triple Crown Of Open Water Swimming
- Typhoon Postpones Boguslaw Ogrodnik In The Tsugaru Channel
- Allan McLeland Achieves Peak And Pond Challenge
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Three's A Charm For Professor Patrick McKnight
- Open Water Swimming
- Marathon Swimming
- Channel Equivalent Of Summiting Everest Without Oxygen
- Jason Snell Achieves The Peak And Pond Challenge
- Jason Snell On Achieving The Peak And Pond Challenge
- Mount Everest Summitteers
- Matt Williams On Swimming And Summiting
- Gabriel Viti, Jr. Has An Appetite For The Extreme
- Mount Everest vs. English Channel – Which Is More Difficult?
