Themes

Article highlights

• Keeping fit and healthy

• Sport in the Navy

• Sports at sea

• Sports and community relations

• Record breakers and extreme sports

Record breakers and extreme sports

Sport in the Navy is not only popular but also diverse. The Navy now has representatives in sports from fencing to skydiving.

In particular the Royal Marines have a strong reputation for taking part in physically challenging activities which improve both their fitness levels and survival skills.

Royal Marines from K Company 42 Commando pot holing during Adventure Training, 1990. (RMM)

Mountaineering and climbing has always been part of the Royal Marine Commando required training from the formation of Commando units during World War Two.

During the 1950s Captain M E Banks RM undertook several mountain expeditions in Greenland. In 1956 Banks led the British/United States Expedition to Mount Rakaposhi in Pakistan. The team was the first to climb the mountain without oxygen.

Ski boots used by Major M E B Banks MBE on the Greenland Ice Cap. (RMM)

Other Marines have also risen to similar challenges, including climbing Mount Everest.

Abseiling is also a skill that the Marines use in their work that they have employed in their recreation and time off.

In 1992 a team of 12 Royal Marines and members of the Canadian School of Rescue Training successfully completed a World Record attempt by abseiling 1465 feet down the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. This was followed by two members of the team climbing all the way back up - setting another World Record!

Captain Rob Metcalfe RM and Canadian School of Rescue Training's Sergeant Legget during a joint World Record abseil from the (then tallest building) CN Tower, Toronto, Canada. 1 July 1992. (RMM)