FRESH from the success of their record-breaking around-island swim, the Guernsey Swimming Club Masters team are already considering their next challenge - setting a new best time for circling Jersey. That best was set by a team from the Jersey Long-Distance Swimming Club, which had held the Guernsey record and had laid down the challenge which was met so comprehensively on Sunday.
‘There’s talk about going around Jersey. I’ve no idea of the distance, though it would take a lot longer. It would be great to take their record for their own island,’ said Sam Herridge, one-sixth of the successful GSC team.
‘Jersey set the Guernsey record last year and so it has been on the cards since then to make a reply. It just happened that everything was right for it last weekend.’
Although it seemed the Guernsey record swim was slightly ad-hoc - organiser Mike Banfield called the team members with just a few days’ notice when he realised the tides would be advantageous - Herridge said that safety was organised.
‘We had great support from the Wakefords. Dave Wakeford followed us around in his boat so we had somewhere to rest and have warm drinks and we also had a zapcat and a dinghy. We could not have done it without them.’
Each swimmer did an hour. When the change-over time came, the next would be taken 10 metres or so ahead and the first would approach and touch them on the legs.
The team started at St Martin’s Point and swam anti-clockwise. The swimmers were averaging around 4,500 to 5,000m for each hour. After the first six legs, the team put in half-hour or 45-min. stretches.
The water temperature was not too bad, said Herridge, though she admitted there were a few hairy moments.
‘We had to keep on bobbing our heads up to check how long we had left. I had one time when the Condor came past that all I could say was ﾓIt’s bigger than meﾔ.
‘Jo [Winberg] was stung a couple of times, though it wasn’t serious and she didn’t notice it until she got out of the water.’
Herridge was not sure of the exact distance swum, but said the views were wonderful.
‘Guernsey looks so different from that angle. There were times when I had to ask where we were.
‘There was one point that the water was pretty shallow, but around the south coast it was very deep and black; it depended on the current how far out we were.’
The team had a mix of experience.
‘The masters section was very strong anyway and within that there is a core group that goes sea swimming, even until October.
‘Carol [Le Compte] is very experienced. Katherine [Andrews], Paul [Mason] and I came from pool swimming, inside where it is nice and warm.
‘It was not just the physical effort; half of the challenge was the unknown - along the south coast the tidal information was a bit sketchy.’
The record was beaten quite comprehensively. Jersey’s best had been 8hr 56min. - the GSC team finished in 8hr 11min. 35sec.
All were in the water for the last leg.
Roger Allsopp swam across the finish line, then all the others got in, swam to a nearby rock and raised the Guernsey flag.
Article posted on 4th August, 2004 - 12.00am
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