Death-defying man from Ruthin becomes first to swim across Hoover Dam

Arron Hughes, 28, had been on a 37 hour drinking session for a pal Patrick Sass’s stag when they took a trip to the Hoover Dam, which sits on the Colorado river on the border between Nevada and Arizona in the US.

After being sat in the pickup truck, fork lift truck driver Arron decided to take a dip and simply kept swimming to the other side, a distance of 379 metres.

Arron said: “At the start all my mates were like, flipping hell, but now they all wish they’d done it with me.

“I’ve been getting messages and emails from all over, my phone’s been going nuts, I’ve never known it to be this crazy before, but it’s all good. It was like The Hangover, everything we did there.”

Police at the Hoover dam say swimming within 300 yards of the dam is prohibited. But Arron says there was nothing to say it was dangerous or banned.

“We were sitting in the back of the pickup and basically it was like an oven in the back,” Arron said.

“So I thought, sod it, I’m going for a dip. After a thirty hours with no sleep and loads of beer it was messy, but it was good.

“We were all standing on the stop on one side and I said right, I’m off.

“I ran down, and I was only having a little swim and thought, I’ll make it to the other side.

“On the top it looks like blue glass really, and when I got down there, fortunately there was only one turbine was on

“That’s why so many die trying to swim across. If the turbines are on, you wouldn’t make it, but there was only the one on.”

Arron ended up being handcuffed by the dam’s Police before receiving a fine for around £250.

“I didn’t know that it wasn’t allowed until the copper told me at the end.

“My main souvenir was the ticket off this copper.

“I’ve swum at Bala before, but it’s not usually as warm up that way.

“I’ve done the blue lagoon in Llangollen, I’ve jumped from the top to the bottom but that’s a hell of a jump, I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie.”

Patrick’s wedding takes place this weekend.