Scott Gladman, a farm manager from regional Victoria, is attempting to become the first person to swim the entire 1,650km length of the Darling River, a journey expected to take roughly 103 days, in support of the Fight the Current campaign.
The swim is raising funds and awareness for families living with MND, PSP and Parkinson's, with a campaign goal of $250,000.
The route takes Scott through some of the most remote country in Australia, including the Mallee grain, citrus and wine belt, where he and his support crew will be moving largely without reliable mobile coverage.
Connected Farms already works with Scott on his own farm, supporting his day-to-day connectivity and his move into digital agriculture (case study). For this challenge, the company has stepped in as his connectivity partner, equipping the ute, Gator and boat with satellite connectivity so the crew can stay in touch with Scott for the length of the swim.
"It's a good reminder of what's possible when regional communities back each other, and why reliable connectivity matters well beyond the farm gate," says Melissa Andrews, Co-Founder of Connected Farms. "Scott's taking on something extraordinary, and we wanted to make sure the team supporting him could focus on him, not on finding signal."
"Once you're out past the Mallee, there are stretches where you genuinely can't call for help if something goes wrong - that's the reality of a swim like this," says Scott. "Having reliable connectivity the whole way down means my support crew can actually do their job properly, wherever the river takes us. I'm just the one doing the swimming - it's the team around me, and the people backing this cause, who are making the 1,650km possible."
Support the swim
Support the cause: https://www.gofundme.com/f/e883g4-fight-the-current-swimming-1650km-for-mnd-parkinsons
Follow the swim:
https://fightthecurrent.com.au/ https://www.instagram.com/stories/fightthecurrentproject/ https://live.garmin.com/session/a0e3bb77-9743-8392-af17-2c469fcd6f01/token/82CF0ADCDBCE2E828E0F9DB25B6812