Arrr, Mateys! Pioneering Swim From Saint-Malo To Jersey
Courtesy of Neil Faudemer in the Channel Islands. The Jersey Swimming Club Polar Bear relay team swam an unprecedented stretch of water from Saint-Malo to Jersey in the English Channel on July 7th.
The relay consisting of Ian Jones, Wendy Trehiou, Nick Dotter, Graeme Lowe, David le Clercq and Neil Faudemer crossed the formerly treacherous channel in 18 hours 9 minutes on its La Grande Nag gie (The big swim).
Saint-Malo is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France. Traditionally with an independent streak, Saint-Malo was formerly notorious for piracy. Today, it is a major tourist destination and now it is a new venue for channel swimming.
Starting on July 7th at Parame beach on the outskirts of St Malo, the intrepid 11 with swimmers and support crew pioneered the swim alongside escort boat Lionheart, skippered by Mathew Clarke. The charity crossing was performed on behalf of 3 Jersey charities: Macmillan Jersey, Brighter Futures, and Channel island air search.
“There was a heavy swell at start and calm conditions at the mid-point,” explains Faudemer. “It was very rough during last three hours into Jersey. We had a dolphin following at halfway and a large contingent near the finish.”
Photo below shows Ian Jones at the finish on the reclamation site, St Helier in Jersey.
Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
Latest posts by Steven Munatones (see all)
