Turtle injury leaves swimmer shell-shocked
A MAN has been injured in a freak accident with a sea turtle while in training to swim the length of the Great Barrier Reef.
South Australian chiropractor Dr Rob Hutchings said he suffered "shell shock" after encountering a large turtle while training for his reef swim next year off the coast of Adelaide last Friday.
"I was just swimming along thinking about how wonderful life was, and my left arm came crashing down on the back of a very large turtle," Dr Hutchings said.
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"I was quite shocked by it, because I didn’t think turtles were down here.
"I've been swimming down here for about six years and never seen them down here.
"For a split second, I thought I had run into a shark."
The encounter exacerbated an injured shoulder Dr Hutchings had suffered, after he had accidentally crashed into a kangaroo the week earlier while mountain biking in the Grampians.
Luckily, the chiropractor has been able to repair himself relatively quickly in order to get back in the water.
"I’m almost better now. I’ve had a bunch of adjustments and done some adjustments and I’ll be back in the water this weekend," Dr Hutchings said.
The 34-year-old is planning on becoming the first person to swim the entire 2300km length of the Great Barrier Reef in October next year to promote awareness of global warming.
Dr Hutchings will be joined by his friend, Canadian swimmer Todd Cameron.
Dr Hutchings, who had previously planned on completing the whole journey inside a solar-powered shark cage, has now decided to ditch the restrictive cage in favour of swimming with Shark Shields.
The devices emit electro-magnetic pulses to interrupt sharks' electrical senses, and are attached to the swimmer's body.
"The shark cage idea was a good idea, but not a really practical idea," Dr Hutchings said.
Shark fears on Great Barrier Reef
"It really upped the cost of the swim, the risk of being swept up against it, and we didn't like the idea of being trapped inside it for 2300km of swimming.
"It would have posed a big risk for injury and the swim wouldn't have been as enjoyable."
Follow Rob's preparation at his Great Barrier Reef swim website.
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Shell-shock: A freak turtle encounter has been an unexpected interruption to Dr Rob Hutchings' swimming training.
