"Southern Quest" set sail on 3 November 1984 to travel the to Antarctica. The expedition stopped over in Lyttelton, New Zealand, to meet Bill Burton, who at 96 years old was the last surviving member of Scott's expedition in 1912. Swan's initial Antarctic expedition was thus officially dubbed "In the Footsteps of Scott". Upon arrival on the frozen continent, Swan and his team spent the Antarctic winter at the Jack Hayward Base with colleagues John Tolson and Dr. Michael Stroud. When the winter had passed, Swan, Roger Mear and Gareth Wood set out to walk to the South Pole. They arrived at the South Pole on 11 January 1986, after 70 days without the aid of any radio communications or back-up support and having hauled sledges. Swan's team had achieved the longest unassisted march ever made in history. Once at the pole, they received the bad news that their ship, "Southern Quest", had been crushed by pack ice and had sunk, just minutes before they arrived. There was much criticism of the adventure from the scientists working in Antarctica as time and money had to be spent in flying some of the party back out to New Zealand. However, Swan returned in 1987 with a ship to collect the rest of the team at Jack Hayward Base and to remove all traces of his expedition, i.e., rubbish and remaining stores.