Australian Swimmer Claims Chilling Encounter with the Loch Ness Monster
Australian swimmer claims close encounter with Loch Ness Monster—and he’s got the tattoo to prove it.
By Missy Baker · September 23, 2024
Disclaimer: While this story is notoriously large on facts, it also contains mysterious amounts of sarcasm.
Is that the Loch Ness Monster? Or are you just happy to see me? That’s what Duncan Roberts, 39, found himself asking when he braved the icy waters of Loch Ness and felt something “big” bump him in the water.
The terrifying experience caught Roberts completely off guard, though admittedly he entered the murky depths of the infamous loch looking for a thrill. Roberts, a daredevil who regularly swims with great white sharks in Australia, made the long journey to northern Scotland to face his greatest underwater fear, Nessie.
Dang, if I want to be afraid around a body of water, I just wear a bikini to the beach.
Roberts says swimming the loch was one of the hardest things he has ever done. Apparently, great white sharks have got nothin’ on Scottish folklore!
The Loch Ness Monster, or “Nessie” as she’s known to her friends, is Scotland’s most elusive celebrity—basically Bigfoot’s lake-loving cousin. According to eyewitness reports that go back for centuries, Nessie is a giant, dinosaur-like creature lurking in the deep, dark waters of Loch Ness.
Despite her notoriety, Nessie is an infamous introvert; she pops up long enough to tease a blurry photo, then dives back down into the darkness before anyone can verify if she’s real. Whether she’s a myth or the most low-key diva of the monster world, Nessie’s been keeping Scotland’s tourism thriving since the 6th century.
There’s plenty of debate about whether Nessie is legit or legend, but Roberts is a believer after literally bumping into her on his recent swim.
“The water is pitch black, and I had my eyes closed a lot of the time as the depth and darkness terrified me, so I didn’t see anything. I just felt it, a big thud in the chest.”
The underwater chest bump was the extent of Roberts’ interaction with Nessie; apparently, he wasn’t her type. Thankfully, he made it to shore without becoming Nessie’s afternoon snack, but still, the moment left its mark—literally.
After surviving his harrowing encounter with the legendary beast, Roberts went straight to a tattoo parlor to commemorate the occasion with a permanent souvenir: a Nessie tat reading, “I survived a chest bump from the Loch Ness Monster and all I got was this lousy tattoo.”
And just in case you’re wondering if this was all a fever dream brought on by cold water, adrenaline, and a desperate need for attention, let’s not forget that researchers recently called on NASA to help track down actual evidence of the Loch Ness Monster. So if those NASA nerds are involved, maybe Roberts isn’t so crazy after all.
For now, Nessie’s existence remains a mystery, and that’s just how she likes it.