Riddled with fear during a terrifying SAS Australia challenge, athletics star Peter Bol has had a serious brainfade in an underground tunnel that almost cost him his life.
On the second training test of Day 2, SAS recruits were asked to crawl through a claustrophobic, water-filled pipeline, similar to caving systems or pipelines used as escape routes in Afghanistan.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Peter Bol makes serious error during scary SAS challenge.
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Chief SAS instructor Ant Middleton said it took “complete mindset to calm yourself down, assess the situation” and get through the challenge.
Buried in the Jordanian desert sand was a 30m network of underground pipeline.
The first section was a tunnel so tight the recruits had to fight to squeeze their bodies through it, and the second section of the tunnel was filled with “filthy water”.
Recruits were asked to fight through their fear of drowning and find vital air pockets to breathe.
Middleton warned the recruits if they panicked they would “lose all control” of their body and “something bad” would follow.
Bol was told to compose himself ahead of the challenge, but he had a flashback to when he was falsely accused of taking a performance-enhancing substance at the start of 2023.
“There’s been several times in my life when I’ve panicked,” he said.
“As an athlete it’s never a good morning when someone knocks on your door to drug test you … and when they sat down and said, ‘You’ve tested positive’, it’s like, ‘S*** … this is quite serious.’ I mean, your career is over here.”
Bol was told to knock three times when he breached the water in the first section to let the chief instructor know that “the mission was on”.
“I do not know where it ends … Move through it fast and efficiently,” Middleton told Bol.
Bol said he had a “big fear” of spending an extended time in water and “not making it out”. He said when he became scared his brain “shuts off” and he “couldn’t think”.
Fighting against his panic, he forgot to knock to alert the DS to his position within the tunnel.
And when he reached the start of the second section, he made the life-threatening error.
Bol needed to turn his body so he was on his back and his face was up. He forgot.
As he dived face down into the next pipe, Middelton screamed: “No, no, no!!!
“F****** turn around. What are you f****** doing? What are you doing?? Turn on your back! Turn around!!!” Middleton roared.
But it was to no avail. Bol charged ahead and was precariously face down in the water.
A rescue plan was quickly hatched. A section of the tunnel had an escape hatch and Bol was lifted to safety mid-challenge.
“Oi, you f****** maniac. What the f*** are you doing? Listen to me. What the f*** are you doing?” a furious Middleton shouted at a stunned Bol.
“Get up. Get out.”
As Bol stood before Middleton, snot poured out of his nose and down his chin. Middleton eyeballed Bol.
“Listen to me. That’s why you’ve got f***** snot and vomit coming out of your mouth because you can’t f****** breathe,” he said.
“Because you’re panicking … PANICKING … Do you think if I hadn’t dragged you out, you wouldn’t be unconscious in that water right now. F****** dead in there right now.
“You’re a f****** dead man.”
Middleton lurched at Bol as the 800m champion flinched.
“Now f*** off to the DS. Move … F****** maniac.”
SAS Australia continues Wednesday 7.30pm on Channel 7 and 7plus.
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