Ryan Swain believes he has set a new British record for endurance skateboarding, despite carrying an injury and battling wind and rain.
Ryan had hoped to break two world distance records, but his pulled hamstring meant he couldn’t complete them, leaving him ‘heartbroken’.
Today he told YorkMix: “I did 90 miles in 11 hours with a torn hamstring, adverse weather conditions, high speed winds with open space and still continued for as long as I could – it’s new GB record.”
Ryan, 32, from Malton, began his attempts to break the Guinness World Record for the furthest distances travelled on a skateboard in 12 hours and 24 hours, at Elvington Airfield near York yesterday (Monday).
But rain, wind and standing water made the runways treacherous and he eventually had to withdraw after his hamstring injury.
As well as hoping to get the British record confirmed, his team are also looking into whether he has broken any other records for a conventional skateboard, as the world records he was trying to better were all done on specialist longboards.
On Tuesday he said: “We just got hit with everything and the dream turned into a nightmare – the weather, the adverse conditions.
“The first three hours were amazing then this rain hit, making the conditions very wet and very slippery. Then there was two or three millimetres of surface water and 15mph winds.
“And then, about six hours in, I felt my hamstring rip.”
Mr Swain continued for a few more hours but eventually realised he could do himself some serious long-term damage and took the difficult decision to stop.
“I probably did a lot more damage but I didn’t want to give up,” he said, “I wanted to see it through.
“Even if I wasn’t going to break a world record, I wanted to get as much mileage in as I could.
“I just literally could not give any more. I’d given everything that I had in me.”
‘I cried like crazy’
He was aiming to cover 300 miles over the 24-hour period. The record is 261.8 miles, set by Andrew Andras in Florida, in the US, in 2013.
Ryan lives with adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was determined to use his love of the sport to raise awareness of neurodiversity and mental health disorders.
He said: “The main idea was to raise awareness, which it has done massively.”
And he said he is determined to try again. “At a later date, definitely,” Mr Swain said.
“I’ve got into this thing now and I believe I can definitely do it – no doubt about that.
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“I was heartbroken and I cried like crazy at the end, just because I wanted it so badly.
“But what we’ve achieved is enormous enough as it is, and I’m very thankful to everyone that got involved.”
He said: “ADHD and neurodivergence are massive parts of my life and if I can give back to anybody else that is enduring them, hoping it resonates and gives out a message that even if you’re facing something really difficult there’s always a way out of it, you’ve just got to be able to communicate and talk.
“I could have just pretended everything was fine and carried on and ended on doing serious damage to my body and my mental health.
“I’m happy with what we achieved, we’ve raised thousands and thousands of pounds for three amazing charities. I’m proud of that.”
Raised more than £4K
Ryan was raising money for Mind, Andy’s Man Club UK and the Next Steps Mental Health Resources Centre, in Malton.
At the time of publication, he had raised more than £4.3K.
He said: “Obviously I’m heartbroken but it wasn’t really about me.
“For me, the message is more important.
“Hopefully this will draw the right attention now to mental health and try and lift that stigma.”
Mr Swain said he was “overwhelmed” by the support he has received, including from Michael Edwards, better known as Olympic ski-jumper Eddie the Eagle, who sent him an encouraging video message.
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