Student joins support crew of record-breaking endurance challenge

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Student joins support crew of record-breaking endurance challenge

Solomon Weston is working as the scientific officer on board a 1,000-mile swimming expedition around the coast of Iceland

Solomon Weston

Mr Alan Williams

Media and Communications Manager

Corporate Communications (Marketing and Communications)

18 July 2025

A ��Ƶ student is spending the summer break from his studies supporting a record-breaking endurance challenge around the coast of Iceland.

Solomon Weston recently completed the second year of a Marine Biology and Oceanography degree, and will return for his final year in September.

Before that, he is putting some of the skills learned during his course into practice by spending almost three months supporting endurance athlete Ross Edgley’s attempt to become the first person to swim around the Icelandic coastline.

Part of a crew of 10 people, living on board a Clipper racing yacht designed for circumnavigation, Solomon is working as the expedition’s onboard scientist.

Having followed Ross’s exploits for some time, he became aware of the position through a mutual contact and was accepted after an extensive interview process.

I have long been aware of Ross Edgley and his immense endurance challenges, but I had also grown up sailing so taking part in this expedition was hugely appealing to me. I was also in search of placement work and knew this was an incredibly unique opportunity that would help me stand out.

Solomon Weston
BSc (Hons) Marine Biology and Oceanography student

With the voyage posing a unique opportunity to collect samples around Iceland at low speeds, and over a long time period, it has generated interest across the scientific community.

It means that through his role, Solomon has been tasked with collecting four different types of data that it is hoped will highlights factors including microplastic levels, species diversity, and cetacean abundance and movement.

This has enabled him to apply transferable skills from his course, including understanding good practices when sampling as well as some previous experience using trawled equipment.

Alongside regular boat duties like cleaning, cooking and keeping watch, he has also assisted with filming content for social media and worked with a documentary team recording the expedition.

Solomon says:

“A lot of our assignments have helped me to communicate science to a mixed audience. That is particularly important when talking about it for TV or social media, as communication with the public is – in many ways – as important as the actual science.”

The record attempt is currently expected to continue until the end of August, although much of that is dependent on weather and wave condition around the Iceland coast.

In spite of his daily sampling as other duties, Solomon says the biggest challenges are boredom, the lack of running hot water or the opportunity to properly exercise, something he and the crew only get to do on occasions when they return to shore.

It is proving to be a challenging but rewarding experience, collecting valuable data, living closely with a small crew, and supporting a world-first endurance swim. I would love to include some of this work in my dissertation but I don’t think I’ll be able to as the analysis of all my samples will take a long time. However, I’m excited to see what my samples reveal once we're finished.

Solomon Weston