At 33, Scotland’s Andrew Donaldson is considered one of the world’s greatest marathon swimmers. Among his many accomplishments, he holds the world record for having the fastest time to complete the Oceans Seven marathon. In 2022, he set a new record for swimming across the English Channel, completing the 33-kilometer crossing in 8 hours. Following that, he became the first Scottish male to swim the North Channel crossing between Ireland and Scotland. In 2023, he was voted “Man of the Year” and “Performance of the Year” in the World Open Water Swimming Association awards. In 2024, he broke the world record for the Manhattan Island Swim (swimming around NYC), completing the course in just 5 hours and 41 minutes. He currently holds the world record for the fastest swim across the Cook Strait, the waters between New Zealand’s North and South Islands. Recently we spoke with him from his home in Western Australia.

CL: What are your family roots?
AD: I grew up in a very active family on the west coast of Scotland. We were always outdoors doing things; my parents took my sister and I on hikes, and we played badminton, golf, rode our bikes all over the place. I think my folks just needed some sort of outlet to get us out of the house and tire us out, essentially.

CL: How, when, and why did you initially get into swimming?
AD: My older cousin was the first in our family to take up swimming – specifically club swimming. My sister followed him into the pool, and I ended up getting pulled along to all these swimming competitions on weekends. It was inevitable, I suppose, that I would follow in their footsteps.

CL: And you took to it right away?
AD: So much can be done for the body and the mind and the spirit just by getting outside and exercising, being in nature – it’s one of the reasons why I love swimming and why I eventually came across to open water swimming and outdoor swimming because of that connection to nature. And again, that comes back to my childhood growing up in Scotland. I love being outdoors, and that love was passed down from generation to generation. Both my father and my grandfather loved to travel and took an interest in the world and that spread to both me and my sister. Swimming was, and remains, the vehicle that takes me around the world. I moved here to Australia because of swimming.

CL: The weather is better than back home, I’m sure.
AD: I didn’t want to say it, but yes, living here certainly has its advantages. My mother is Indonesian, so the warmth is in my blood, which is what you want as a cold-water swimmer. The thing about being Scottish is, there are certain intangible benefits of having grown up there, and dealing with the weather is one of them. Scots, by nature, are tough stock – gritty, resilient, with a backbone carved out by centuries of struggle. We aren’t afraid to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

CL: Hard work has a bit of a bad reputation these days.
AD: Agreed. My experience has been that hard work will take you there, and then smart work will take you further. Those are life-lessons that I was fortunate to learn from both my father and my grandfather – two proud, hardworking Scots who always encouraged us to be the best version of ourselves and help others.

CL: So, self-mastery and service?
AD: Yes, that is an excellent way of putting it. I mean, and I suppose like a lot of people, every once in a while, I scratch my head and ask myself “Why am I doing this?’ and ‘Why am I pushing myself so hard here?’ And that allows to me reflect and to remind myself that it is not enough to merely challenge myself – that’s only half the job. The other half is about challenging and inspiring others. As I have learned, when you help the people around you and you help yourself in the process.

CL: Is leaving some sort of lasting legacy something you consider?
AD: Yes, only recently, but more and more. I was in Hawaii last year and there they talk about thinking ahead and making decisions based on looking 7 generations into the future – that’s a really long time. We ought to be thinking more than just about ourselves and how we can set up future generations for success. And if I can move the needle just a tiny bit through what I do then I will feel good knowing that I have contributed in some way.

CL: Do you feel any sense of obligation to give back, given your status and celebrity?
AD: Celebrity! I like that! I don’t feel like a celebrity, nor do I really look like one, but I will take it! No, not really in the sense that I don’t feel any added pressure to be anyone other than who I am.

CL: Do you connect with the Scottish Diaspora when you travel?
AD: You know, I should really leverage – if that is the right word – the Scottish network much more than I do, and I should probably start sooner than later. When I began open water swimming here in Australia, I didn’t meet very many people in the Scottish ex-pat community, and certainly not many is the sporting world. There are lots of Scots here – I mean, look at the number of Highland Games and festivals that take place in this part of the world each year – it’s just that they are not so much in my immediate sphere. When it comes to sports, Scots are, admittedly, a little behind, and I hope that I can help to play my part to change that going forward by inspiring more young people at home and away to get more involved with sport.

CL: Speaking of going forward, what are your plans for 2025, and for the years ahead?
AD: I have a lot of both personal and professional goals that I am hoping to accomplish. I am aware that my role in swimming will likely change over time – I have no plans to stop challenging myself at this point, but I see myself perhaps becoming an ambassador for the sport down the road. One thing that really excites me is the idea of putting together some sort of ultramarathon swimmers team from around the world, all of us pooling our resources and swimming under one banner to raise funds and awareness for various global causes and charitable organizations. I am very much a part of this community, and I can tell you that these are incredible people with incredible stories to share and huge love in their hearts. And this would be another way that I could continue my mission to promote both mental health and ocean health.

@andy.swimming