Lewis Pugh is an endurance swimmer, maritime lawyer, and a leading voice for ocean conservation. He pioneers swims in some of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth to raise awareness and drive action to protect our planet’s blue heart.

As UNEP Patron of the Oceans, Lewis has spent the past two decades combining sport, storytelling, and diplomacy to help secure marine protected areas across the globe - from the Ross Sea to South Georgia and the Red Sea. He focuses his advocacy on the three greatest threats to ocean health: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

He was the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean, and the first to swim across the North Pole - a feat undertaken to highlight the rapid melting of Arctic sea ice. He also swam the full length of the English Channel to call for 30% of the world’s oceans to be protected by 2030.

In 2023, he completed a 520km swim down the Hudson River to spotlight the critical importance of protecting rivers and freshwater ecosystems. Most recently, he swam around Martha’s Vineyard on the 50th anniversary of Jaws to call for the urgent protection of sharks.

In 2016, he founded the Lewis Pugh Foundation to help protect and preserve our oceans for a peaceful and sustainable future. The Foundation has since played a key role in securing protections for over 3.5 million km² of ocean - an area larger than Western Europe.

Pugh holds a Masters in Maritime Law from the University of Cape Town and a Masters in International Law from the University of Cambridge. He regularly addresses world leaders, policymakers, and businesses, advocating for ambitious and lasting ocean protection.