The Great Duel: Kevin Murphy vs Des Renford.
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| Nothing Great Is Easy.. Kevin & Des .. pictured at 4am on Shakespeare beach .. before starting their English Channel swim |
The Great Duel was a famous series from 1977 that pitted The
Two Kings of Open water swimming at the Time ..Great Briton`s Kevin Murphy Vs Australian Des Renford. This is the film " Nothing Great Is Easy " which
recalls the three amazing swims done by Des & Kevin . Des and Kevin`s rivalry , ( along with another Brit Mike Read ), became part of the folklore in the sport of marathon swimming .
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| Des Renford
swam the English Channel 19 times from 19 attempts.
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| Kevin Murphy Swam The English Channel 34 times |
The Great Duel:Kevin Murphy Vs Des Renford
.
This is the film "
Nothing Great Is Easy " which recalls the three amazing swims done by Des
& Kevin in the summer of 1977..
The 1st swim was chosen by Des.. it took place in
Austria . it was 10 miles swim from Manly to the Opera House in Sydney (3/4 of
the swim had to been be done in shark cages )
the 2nd Swim ..was joint choice .. The English channel ( Swam in Terrible conditions- has to be watched,)
The Final swim was Kevin’s
Choice 3rd ..Loch Ness ( undertaken in freezing conditions )
get yourself a coffee , find a comfortable chair and enjoy . watching a bit of open water swimming history . by two legends of the sport
just click on the picture to watch the Film
" Nothing Great Is Easy .
Kevin spoke to The Daily News of Open Water Swimming in 2013
about his
Great Duel with Des .
Great Duel with Des .
"The Australians wanted to seek a British champion who
could be beaten by Renford. I was offered a first-class ticket which I turned
down and asked for 2 cattle-class tickets for my wife and me.
We raced Manley to the Opera House in Sydney in these wire-mesh cages. It was not expected that I was much of an expert in this cage. It was like cycling behind a lorry. But I won. Much to my surprise. It was not in the script. You don't get a Pom beating an Aussie, especially on their home turf.
We raced Manley to the Opera House in Sydney in these wire-mesh cages. It was not expected that I was much of an expert in this cage. It was like cycling behind a lorry. But I won. Much to my surprise. It was not in the script. You don't get a Pom beating an Aussie, especially on their home turf.
Because Des' times were faster than mine in the English
Channel, so it was a clear choice to swim the English Channel. This was good to
have an Aussie being me on our home turf. In the English Channel, Ian Reed and
Reg Brickell was the pilot for Des. The swim date was set and whatever the
weather was, we were going to do it.
We called the conditions of the Channel bad; the media
called it cheeky. Ray Scott was the referee. Tom Heltzel was the other
personality involved. Tom is famous for saying that the water was so rough that
my boat would not make it, but I would. Des and his crew pulled a fast one on
the beach. They started but did not tell me. Des started but he left the boat
behind, thinking that I would not know.
I remember that Reg took a sharp right ahead of me and I was
wondering what he was doing. Currently, the pilots do a magic right. Instead of
being 400 meters behind Des, I ended up 2 hours behind him. Fair game.
The first time in Loch Ness, I went unconscious. So did Mike
Read but we both wound up waking up together in the hospital. I thought I could
win a swim across Loch Ness four days after the Channel. I remember Des saying
there was snow on the mountains on the way up. Dennis Sullivan was the
organiser of the Loch Ness swim. At the start, Des reckons that I was getting
back at him. This was how I was regulating my breathing by staying in the water
2-3 minutes in water less than 10 degrees Celsius. I slightly pulled ahead of
Des. He had a dreadful stroke but powerful as a surf swimmer. After 5 hours in
these temperatures, Des was more upright in the water than horizontal. But he
was not about to get out. So he got out and I was a few miles ahead.
Where was he? Is he alright?
I said, "Lucky bugger" as I was swimming in the 7
degrees C water. After 9 hours, I was only about halfway. I was getting
hypothermia. There was nothing to prove after 10 and a half hours. It was the
friendly way to end this series, an honourable draw as we hang on. I had swum
longer than him, but in the film, the crew is all dressed up. Des went on to
swim 19 Channel crossings as I did 34.
I like finishing but I spend the entire time asking myself
what the hell am I doing here. I remembered trying a three-way of the Channel,
perhaps this may have been my favourite one. I got out after 52 and a half
hours after 2 and a half crossings."
