From Shore To Shore Across The Atlantic

Courtesy of WOWSA, Atlantic Ocean.

46-year-old Mark Pollard from London was part of an English Channel relay in 2010. The 12 hour 37 minute minute crossing planted a seed in his mind.

A really big seed.

But Polland’s goal needed time and years of swimming to percolate.

His first crossed the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar in 2016 in 4 hours 22 minutes, the 4 km Bosphorus in 2017 (1 hour 5 minutes) and 2019 (1 hour 11 minutes) and the Strait of Bonifacio in 4 hours 55 minutes in 2018.

And now it is time to start planning. His goal? To swim with Oceans Seven swimmer Michelle Macy, David Kimber, Mike Baumann, Mickey Helps [see above with Pollard], and 1-2 additional crew members to attempt the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge transatlantic course as a stage relay in 2021.



Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is a 2,550 nautical mile (4,722 km) transoceanic crossing from the Canary Islands to Antigua. Pollard explains, “This course follows the Atlantic rowing route called the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, the World’s Toughest Row and will take us from the Canary Islands to Antigua starting in November 2021.

For this swim, I am proposing a similar format to our English Channel relay: 6 swimmers following the same order, each swimming for 2 hours on their leg. Each of us will swim a total of 4 hours per day over one 24-hour period. We have not yet decided on whether or not to wear wetsuits, but I do not fancy bumping in jellyfish at 3 am without a wetsuit.

Our research on the weather and currents tells us that the optimal timing would be from November to January which runs concurrent to the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Based on our team averaging 2.5 mph throughout the swim, we are looking at swimming 60 miles per day, taking between 50-60 days to complete the challenge.”

For more information, visit contact Pollard at mark@turquoisecleaning.co.uk.

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