The Desert Swimmer

Brendan Cullen manages a 10,000-head sheep station 65 kilometres outside Broken Hill, New South Wales-over 600 kilometres from the nearest beach. Yet in 2022, he swam the English Channel. Swimming became part of Brendan’s recovery from severe depression that had seen him cope through drinking, overwork, and emotional absence until he sought help at Broken Hill Hospital. In 2015, watching his brother compete in open-water swimming sparked something. Despite the exhaustion, it made him feel vitally alive. By 2018, he’d set his sights on the Channel. Through Covid restrictions, he trained before dawn in murky Menindee Lake and icy local waters. He completed the crossing in 17 hours-64 kilometres after currents dragged him off course. The Desert Swimmer shows the good that comes from facing challenges head-on.