Twitter Account Delves Into Mind-Boggling Numbers Behind Michelle Muscat’s Swim
Michelle Muscat completed a 14km swim around the coast of Mellieħa last weekend, a personal best for the Prime Minister’s wife and dedicated swimmer.
Or did she? An anonymous Twitter account called ‘BugM’ has analysed the swim in minute detail and has come to the shocking conclusion that all may not be as it seems.
This is how he got there.
4 hrs 20 mins in seconds is 15,600 seconds for 14,000 metres. So @Michelle_Muscat swam at a constant rate of 14,000/15,600 or 0.897 m/s for 14 kilometers.
That’s 3.2184 km/h by the way. pic.twitter.com/2pqf0qXPkb
— BugM (@bugdavem) July 14, 2019
Using basic Form 3 physics, he calculated that, had Muscat swam 14km in four hours and 20 minutes, she would have competed the distance at an average speed of 3.2184km/h.
This would put her almost at par with freestyle swimming athletes and faster than Jaime Monaha, a Guinness World Record marathon swimmer who has swum around the world.
More strangely, Google Earth technology shows that the distance between Ras il-Qammieħ and Daħlet ix-Xileb, the starting point and finish point of Muscat’s journey, isn’t 14km at all but somewhere between 7km and 8km.
We now pick up pace as we just surpass the 10 km mark just past Slug’s bay. The entire tail has been covered yet still another 4 km to go. This is the last stretch. pic.twitter.com/ijRJ2qA2dn
— BugM (@bugdavem) July 14, 2019
And BugM went further, using Google Earth to argue that a 14km swim would have taken Michelle Muscat all the way around Comino before arriving at her final destination.
The annual swim is held in aid of the Marigold Foundation, which is chaired by Michelle Muscat and which raises funds for NGOs working in social fields, such as with athletes training for the Special Olympics.
The Marigold Foundation wasn’t immediately available for comment about the length of the swim.
Inspire Foundation CEO Nathan Farrugia, himself a marathon runner, said that while the official swim numbers may be false, the initiative itself should still be applauded.
“Ok, 14k, 8k, whatever…. more than most lazy ass people would bother to do for charity or a cause, that’s for sure,” he said.
“Yes, ok, let’s keep sports honest, (and I’m quite sure her clueless meddling PR team had something to do with possible deceit) ; but frankly, the effort of a four hour swim remains….whether you cover 4,8,14 or more k’s.”
“Kudos to whoever uses sport to raise funds and awareness in my book. Most recently the chaps who swam 37km around Gozo in 10 hours or so, to raise awareness about plastic in our seas.”
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