Slip End dad with motor neurone disease to attempt TWO world records in TWO countries in ONE day

Mark O’Brien, 55, set a new world record by achieving the longest unaided open water swim for a person living with motor neurone disease (MND) in September last year. The dad-of-three was joined by over 200 people in Uxbridge as he swam for over five hours and raised over £20,000 for Motor Neurone Disease Association.

After Guinness adjudicators told Mark that his attempt was successful and he was a world record holder, he decided to keep pushing on and look for his next challenge.

While on holiday in Egypt, he got “another crazy idea”. Mark, who was diagnosed with MND in March 2022, said: “I wondered whether it was possible to do the fastest [swim] as well as having already done the furthest.”

He’s been learning new swimming styles and techniques to get him to reach the 50m and 100m goals in the fastest time possible.

Mark explained: “You're literally windmilling your arms, and you're kicking much, much harder. You're trying to balance your stroke rate with your kick rate. I was training in Dublin for the 100m, and I got to 70 meters, and I had to stop. I was going to pass out. That is the furthest I've ever taken my body, it's never gone to that point.

"I've never reached that level of exhausting my body. The 50m - close your eyes and hope for your life and go as fast as you can. But the 100m is really technical, because you could blow up before the end, and then the record would be impossible.”

Mark has dual citizenship – UK and the Republic of Ireland – and will do his 50m freestyle swim at Luton’s Inspire Village in the morning before flying to Dublin to attempt the 100m freestyle in an Olympic-size pool.

And Irish Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen shared a message of support to Mark after the 23-year-old won gold in the men's 800m freestyle in Paris.

His journey with MND – a rare degenerative condition that attacks the nervous system and weakens muscles – has not been easy. Mark explained: “When I felt my mental health take a bit of a dip, there's realisations that obviously, I'm not getting better. I am progressively getting worse. I've always said that until my last breath, I'm going to fight.”

In recent weeks, a shoulder injury has had Mark questioning just how long the swims will take on Sunday, September 1. But he said: “With the shoulder injury, it will be close. I've already done both world records in training, and that was back to back. But if I was to do it now, it's completely different.”

Despite this set back, Mark hopes to raise £15,000 for three charities: MND Association, Challenging MND and Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Kevin Burn, CEO of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, said: “We are inspired by Mark and his courage and determination to continue to challenge himself like this – to take on two Guinness World Record attempts in one day is something, but in two different countries in the same day is just incredible.”

For Mark, this isn’t about smashing the world records, it is much more than that: “The world records are a by product of what the bigger picture is, which is raising more awareness and raising money for MND research and the other charities.

"If I can inspire one person, then this is worth doing. If I can help someone's mental health, just one person who might be feeling like I was two years ago, when I was in the darkest place in my life, then this will be worth it.”