Amy Ennion First to Swim from Guernsey to France Solo
On June 15th, Amy Ennion became the first person in history to complete a 48.65 kilometer crossing from Guernsey to France in 15 hours, 59 minutes and 25 seconds.
Like many things in this past year, Ennion and her team with escort pilots Matt Clarke and Robyn Stewart had to make adjustments. In order to adhere to COVID-19 rules, Clarke took off from the Isle of Jersey before heading to Guernsey where Ennion took off on the north coast of the island at 6:09 am. She did not walk up on shore of Guernsey, but rather she can within an arm’s distance of the rocks and started swimming at the sound of a horn blasted from her escort boat.
The first two hours were rather choppy with loads of jellyfish present, but then the day turned out to be nice, relatively flat conditions where Ennion was able to pioneer the 48.51 km solo crossing from Guernsey to France in 15 hours 59 minutes on June 15th, confirmed by observer Sammy Pipon. Towards the end of her swim, the surf was large so her escort kayaker Will stayed out of the crashing waves. Will recalled, “Amy got pushed back twice by the breakers [before] she got up and onto the sand [to] clear the water.”
Ennion later told iTV News, “I wanted to say that I was the first person to do it. I wanted my name in that record book. At the end of the swim, I was just so exhausted. When I was in sighting distance of France…the last couple of hours was such a battle. When I landed in France, it was just sheer relief that I made it.”
Watch a video of her swim here on iTV News.
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