James Pittar’s Marathon Swim Story

Just like you or I, James Pittar realized he was never going to be a sprinter, preferring the distance events. Just like you or I, he overhead someone talking about the English Channel and started to dream of the possibilities. Just like you or I, James builds a team to help him achieve his goals.

But James doesn’t have the luxury of visual cues. He can feel the heat of the day, and hear whistle cues for right, and left. But James lost his vision due to a rare retina disease. He tells us all about it in this episode. Enjoy!

In his own words: I was born in October 1969. I have been married to my wife, Jenny, since 2005 and we have 1 daughter born in 2007 (Annica). I developed an eye disease known as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) when I was about 13 years of age. RP is an eye disease which eventually ends up destroying your Retina. I went totally blind in my late 20’s. I got involved in Blind pool swimming events and represented Australia in the 1990 World Championships and Games for the disabled in the pool. I have also represented Australia in the World Rowing Championships in 1995 in single skulls, when I got involved in open water swimming.

My 2 favourite swims have been: The first blind person to swim the English Channel 1998 taking 13 hours and 50 mins and being a member of the first ever staged relay swim across the entire length of the Bering Straits between Russia and the USA without wetsuits. I participated with 65 other swimmers from 15 other countries and the other 5 continents on August 5-11, 2013.

I have written an Autobiography called: Blind Vision, preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q7hWDq2QjQ  

Get a copy: https://www.inspiringbookshop.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=641 

Through my swims that I have organized in Australia I have raised over $100,000 for The Fred Hollows Foundation, www.hollows.org

I was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2010 and also inducted into the Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2020.

Find out more at: www.jamespittar.com