At 10:00 am on Saturday 24 October, Sam Flannery began a 24-hour swim at the University of Queensland with one goal: to do something he finds difficult for 24 hours. This was part of Nedd Brockmann’s ‘Uncomfortable Challenge’, which raises money for We Are Mobalise, a homelessness charity in Australia.
About the challenge
Flannery came up with the idea of swimming for 24 hours at the start of 2026, as part of Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge. Flannery told 9 News Australia that ‘he hates swimming to be honest’, and that is exactly why he chose it.
Nedd Brockman started the Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge in 2024. The event is an annual fundraiser that supports Australian homelessness and encourages people to select something that makes you uncomfortable and do it for a whole day or 10-day period from19 to 28 October.
Know the numbers
24-hours swimming
55k swam
12,720 calories burnt
2:23/100m pace
5 months of training
Raised $8,000 AUD - as of 29 October ($5,000 AUD goal)
Who is Sam Flannery?
Sam Flannery, 19, out of Brisbane, Australia, is an endurance athlete. Flannery has completed other challenges in the past year, including a 160km (100 miles) run from Brisbane to Byron Bay in October 2025, and he became the fastest to run a marathon whilst pulling a car in early 2026.
On Instagram, Flannery stated that ‘extraordinary outcomes are often just the by-product of ordinary preparation, done consistently’.
Photo credit: "@Samflannery_ on Instagram