A lawyer trying to become the first person to swim the full length of Britain's famous River Thames waded ashore in London Thursday to call on Prime Minister Tony Blair to tackle climate change.
Lewis Pugh, who was the first person to complete long-distance swims in all five world oceans, left the murky river at Westminster to deliver a personal letter to Blair, urging him to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2010.
Wearing skimpy swimming trunks and a swim hat, Pugh began his 203-mile (327-kilometre) watery trek on July 17 to draw attention to a climate change campaign by international conservation group WWF. He hopes to finish by Sunday.
Pugh met Blair for about five minutes when he delivered the letter, although he did cover up for the meeting at Blair's Downing Street office.
Pugh said of the prime minister: "He said he was proud of me.
"He spoke about the work he was doing in America and he talked about empowering people at the lowest level about how they can reduce their carbon emissions."
Blair is unquestionably passionate about tackling climate change and used his visit last week to the United States to sign an agreement between Britain and California on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
On his swim, Pugh said the recent hot and humid weather in Britain had made the challenge unexpectedly difficult.
"The end is in sight now and all the efforts will have been worth it (if) anyone watching my progress is inspired to do their bit to help stop climate change," he said.
The adventurer completed long-distance swims in the Atlantic Ocean in 1992, the Arctic Ocean in 2003, the Southern Ocean in 2005 and the Indian and Pacific oceans this year.
