Waverley College student Ned Wieland conquers mammoth swims for charity

At 17, Ned Wieland has swam the English Channel, the Catalina Channel in California and completed the Manhattan Marathon swim — and this is what drove him on

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Ned Wieland, 17, has been named the Young Conversation Champion at the R U OK? Awards after becoming the youngest male to achieve the triple crown of open water swimming, raising close to $45,000 for charity in the process.

The Waverley College student was brought up around pools and beaches such as Tivoli Swim School and Bondi Beach and has been swimming for as long as he can remember.

But in 2012 he did his first ocean swim and immediately fell in love with the sport.

Losing a friend through suicide, Ned saw an opportunity to help those in need. Picture: Supplied.

“I met a young man, Lachie Hinds, and he told me he had just swum the English Channel and the crazy stories about it. From that day on it became a dream,” he said.

“In 2016 I revealed to my family I wanted to swim the English Channel and they thought I was mad, but I kept hassling them. Eventually my dad took me to meet other famous channel swimmers such as Cyril Baldock and Dori Miller in an attempt to try and get a reality check on what the swim is really like.

“After swimming the channel, I wanted to do more swims, and it was at a North Bondi Surf Club sponsors luncheon I said I wished to swim the ‘triple crown’ of open water swimming.

Ned Wieland during his Catlina swim. Picture: Supplied.

That’s the English Channel, Catalina Channel’s 42km between Catalina Island and Long Beach, California, and the Manhattan 20 Bridges Swim, which is a 52km swim around Manhattan Island, New York,” Ned said.

But the 17-year-old is not stopping there, with a new fundraising target in sight.

“I will continue to raise money for R U OK? for this swim and I hope to reach my goal of $50,000,” he said.

“To me, swimming is my happy place and I believe that everyone should have a happy place.”