Product details
- ISBN 9781761472381
- Dimensions: 153 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 03 Mar 2026
- Publisher: Allen & Unwin
- Publication City/Country: AU
- Product Form: Paperback
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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.
Brendan Cullen manages Kars sheep station located 65 km east of Broken Hill. He has lived in the Broken Hill district all his life and shares his love of the land with his wife Jacinta and three adult children.
Paul Mitchell is a Melbourne-based writer. His works include the novel We. Are. Family., and a collection of non-fiction, Matters of Life and Faith.
