Shot: The late Van Wisse
A long-distance swimmer from Australia has reportedly been put down after failing in his attempt at a triple crossing of the English Channel.
John Van Wisse set off from Shakespeare Beach at Dover intending to challenge the triple crossing record of 28 hours and 21 minutes set back in 1987 by fellow Antipodean, Phillip Rush from New Zealand.
The 37 year-old had faced conditions described as ‘atrocious’ during the first two legs, but events then took a deadly twist as the situation worsened yet further.
In a statement the victim’s sister, Tammy Van Wisse, described what happened. ‘The first leg was very choppy and he’d been through quite a lot. We turned around hoping that it would be better, and the second leg really wasn’t much better than the first, in terms of the kind of weather and rough waves that we got, and it really took its toll on him.’
She then ruthlessly and succinctly added ‘He just said he just couldn’t go on any further and he was just shot.’
This is not the first time that a third leg has failed to materialise as a result of cold water, but it is the only recorded incident of a swimmer being euthanased as a result of poor performance, even in Australia.
