APM Partner Jeremy McClure Achieves Incredible Ocean Swimming Feats

Jeremy McClure and a support swimmer prepare on the beach before an ocean swim, highlighting the teamwork required for long-distance open water challenges.

Jeremy McClure is legally blind, but he hasn’t let that stop him from achieving ocean-swimming feats no one else has.

After a diagnosis of optic neuropathy at 15, his eyesight went from 100% to 2% in eight short weeks.

A year after he received this extremely confronting and upsetting news, he strove to make something positive out a negative situation and set his sights on the Paralympics.

By 17, he made the Australian team and went on to compete at Athens, Beijing, London and Rio.

Jeremy is driven by a positive outlook on his condition.

“There's people in worse positions. At least I've still got my heart, my lungs, I'm still breathing,” Jeremy says.

“Let's make something positive out of a negative situation. And that was my mission to do that.”

And he’s found that in marathon ocean swimming.

After multiple solo Perth to Rottnest Island 20 km swims, he looked for bigger challenges.

“It's kind of invigorating thinking about pushing yourself through these uncomfortable situations… I wanted to do that no one's ever done before.”

Swimmer preparing for an open water event by applying sunscreen and wearing goggles, a key part of marathon swimming readiness and safety.

Open water swimmers gather on the beach before a race, capturing the start of a marathon swimming event and the team environment behind long-distance challenges.

The first was a 36 km crossing of Shark Bay from Dirk Hartog Island to the mainland.

In the next swim, he conquered the massive 66 km of open ocean between the Abrolhos Islands and Geraldton, which took him just over 24 hours.

Of course, he doesn’t do it alone.

On each swim, Jeremy needs a support crew on a boat and a team of swimmers, taking turns to lead him across the water.

This team effort makes it even more satisfying.

“It makes it even more rewarding when you get your toes on the sand at the other end,” he says.

“Every time I do it, I'm so proud of my whole team. I couldn't do it without the support of APM and the whole team joint effort.”

Paralympian swimmer Jeremy McClure with his guide dog outdoors, highlighting life beyond competition and his journey as a legally blind athlete.

Jeremy McClure training in an outdoor swimming pool, preparing for marathon ocean swims through consistent endurance training and discipline.

APM is proud to partner with Jeremy, who is such an inspiring example of overcoming challenges and achieving incredible things.

“Having APM by my side is fantastic. Even if it's a difficult goal for someone that is able, you can still achieve whatever you want, disability or not,” Jeremy adds.

“If I can continue sharing the message and putting it out there that these goals are all achievable by anybody, I would love to do that.

“I love opening people's eyes, pardon the pun, in something that's perceivably unachievable and making it achievable."

Jeremy McClure: From vision loss to Paralympian and ocean swimmer

Jeremy McClure is legally blind, but he hasn’t let that stop him from achieving ocean-swimming feats no one else has.