After his ballroom dancing exploits, Rodney Hide admits he is virtually beyond embarrassment.
But the possibility of having to be publicly fished out of the water during next month's harbour-crossing swim is worrying the Act leader.
"They fish everyone out of the water after one hour 45 because they let
the ships back through," Mr Hide said. "I don't want to be fished out - the Herald would love that."
Mr Hide will compete in the Ocean Swim series, which begins with a 2.8km harbour crossing in Auckland on November 19 and continues through the summer with swims in Wellington, Christchurch, Tauranga and the North Shore.
Originally challenged to take part only in the Wellington swim in January, Mr Hide decided that as MP for Epsom, he should don a wetsuit for the Auckland swim as well.
The only problem was that his self-described swimming style before taking up the challenge was dog-paddle.
But with regular practice and some lessons, Mr Hide was able to swim 2km in a pool within a couple of weeks.
He managed to squeeze some training into his schedule during a trip to London over the past two weeks, and yesterday tried swimming in open water at the Viaduct Harbour.
"I think if I stick at it, I can get across. It's a bit like dancing - my aim is to get across that first one ... and then start to improve and get better for the others." Mr Hide turns 50 in December and one of his goals over recent months was to be fitter.
His stint on Dancing With the Stars gave him the start and a plunge in weight followed gym workouts.
The previously fuller-figured MP said he had a bet in March that he could get his weight down to 97kg by early September - which he has. Now the swimming is improving on that.
"I know that I couldn't swim across the harbour when I was 20, so if I can do it when I'm 50 it'll be good."
