Living in the water to turn the world around

By Lachlan Russell

Hi I'm Lachlan...

I’m 15 years old and a Year 12 student at John McGlashan College in Dunedin. I’m a competitive swimmer, training around 11 hours a week, and last year I swam 850km — that’s nearly the distance from Dunedin to Wellington.

I also compete in open water swimming events, and this year I was lucky enough to place second in both the Ruby Island 5km race in Lake Wanaka and the Caroline Bay 5km Ocean Swim in Timaru. I was the youngest swimmer in both races, which was a real highlight.

But this year, I want to do something more than just compete. I’ve signed up for the McGlashan Challenge – a voluntary school initiative where students take on a personal challenge to raise funds and push themselves. I’ve chosen to support the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand, with a goal to raise $1,500 to help fund life-changing research into conditions like stroke and dementia.

These are illnesses that have impacted people in my own family, and I know how hard they can be. I want to use the hours I spend training in the pool to contribute to something that can help others.

Here’s my challenge:

1.      Swim 1,000km by the end of the school year (November) – that’s about the distance from Auckland (where I was born) to Dunedin. I’ll need to average 21km per week over 37 weeks. So far I’ve swum over 216km since 1 January.

2.      Complete the Whakatipu Legend Triple Challenge – this includes three open water races: 4km, 2km and 1km, all in one event.

3.      Swim a full 10km Olympic open water distance – this is a serious endurance swim, and my coach, Lars Humer, suggested it as a final goal. He’ll be there to support me through it.

This won’t be easy, but that’s part of the reason I’m doing it. Living with a neurological condition often requires long-term resilience and strength, and I want my challenge to reflect that same spirit.


Why I’ve chosen to support brain research:

Neurological conditions like dementia affect 1 in 3 Kiwis. Dementia alone impacts more than 70,000 people in New Zealand, and that number is expected to double by 2050. It can affect memory, thinking, and independence — not just for the person with dementia, but also for their families. By raising funds for the Neurological Foundation, I hope to support the scientists and doctors working to better understand, treat and one day prevent these conditions.

If you’re able to support my challenge, I’d be really grateful. Every donation helps fund research that could change lives.


Thank you for being part of this journey.

– Lachlan

My Achievements

My Updates

Distance Update and more

Sunday 4th May
Hello, sorry it's been so long since my last post, I've not been very consistent. So far I've swam 383km in total, so I've swam all the past Christchurch on the map. 
I've been able to pick up on some missed distance from the holidays (public holidays meant the pool was closed). However, over the weekend I had the 'Mary McFarlane Classic, a meet celebrating someone who has contributed massively to the competitive swimming community. At the meet, I raced the 1500m Free, 50m Fly, 100m Fly, 100m Free and 2 relays. My placings were 1st, 7th, 2nd, 4th respectively and 2nd in both relays. 

Distance Update

Sunday 13th Apr
Hello
I am on track. I've swam 319.15km so far and spent 79 hours in the water. That's just over 4 days to swim from Dunedin to Dunsandel. 

The open water swim season has come to an end for me - 13 degrees in the water on Wed, which is getting a bit uncomfortable. so its all pool from now on. Made up some distance today on my longest ever session: 8km in one go.

Distance Update and more

Saturday 5th Apr
It's been a little while since I last posted so here are some interesting things that have happened over the last little while :) : 
The current distance is 286.56km. To reach my target distance I will need to swim 21km per week for the remaining 34 weeks until November 29th.
The open water swim on Wednesday the 26th was cancelled due to a seven gill shark sighting close to the set off point. Unfortunately I think the open water season may be coming to an end as temperatures drop. 
Distance this week has been slim with only 17.3km being swam.
On friday the 28th March I broke my furthest swim record by 50m. Whish isn't much but I think 7.05km is still a decent distance :)

Thank you so much all to the new supporters of this page. When I started this page I had no idea that it would grow as fast as it has. I'll make sure to keep you updated.

The Whakitipu Legend, Results

Thursday 27th Mar
Update on the Whakatipu Legend - I completed the triple challenge on Sat 22nd in beautiful Queenstown,  swimming the 4km, 2km and 1km races. A great experience! I highly recommend this unique open water event - how often do you get to jump off the back of the TSS Earnslaw?!!  Water temp was a comfortable 15 degrees....

Achieved a great result - 4th overall of 60 competitors who tackled the triple challenge.  I had an overall time of 1:37:16.  Roll on next year!

The Whakitipu Legend

Wednesday 19th Mar
The race is this saturday and includes a 4km, 2km and 1km. Hopefully it isn't too chilly in the lake :)
Thank you to my incredible supporters!

$315

Peter & Christine Melbourne

Looking forward to seeing you reach your goal

$200

Anonymous

20cents/Km - Go Lachlan!

$104

Steve & Angela Miezenbeek

$100

Henrietta Soaps Limited

Very impressive Lachlan!

$100

Electrical Design Solutions Ltd

$78.75

Anonymous

Good luck!!

$52.50

Rebecca Kirk

What an amazing challenge Lachlan and such a worthy cause! I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress.

$52.50

Hannah Gibbons

Go Lachlan!

$50

David Hutchinson

Kudos to you Lachlan. Well done.

$26.25

Dan Wilson

Great work Lachlan

$25

Anonymous

Great cause, best of luck Lachlan

$25

Christina Douglas

Keep going Lachlan!

$10.50

Anonymous

Absolutely amazing