Adrian ‘Ady‘ Sarchet (nicknamed La Machina) is a 44-year-old open water swimmer, member of the Guernsey Swimming Club, and an Advocate from Guernsey, one of the British Channel Islands. He is the 21st person in history to complete the Oceans Seven

Open Water Swimming Career Highlights

• Sarchet has completed the 7 channels in the Oceans Seven in a fund-raising effort for the Wessex Medical Research to raise money for cancer research.
• On 10 August 2012, he crossed the 33.8 km English Channel from England to France in 14 hours 2 minutes at the age of 37.
• On 1 August 2013, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 12 hours 26 minutes 34 seconds at the age of 38.
• On 24 September 2014, he crossed the 14.4 km Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco in 4 hours 1 minutes at the age of 39 together with Neda el Món‘s Henry Sanz of France, Ingrid Basso of Italy, and Loic Tordo of France, the first Guernsey native to complete a crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar.
• In 2014, he completed the 66 km Round Jersey swim around the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands in 11 hours 29 minutes, the first Guernsey native to complete a Round Jersey circumnavigation swim.
• On 7 August 2015, he completed a 35 km crossing of the North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 14 hours 13 minutes at the age of 40.
• In July 2016, he completed the 42 km crossing of the Molokai Channel from Molokai Island to Oahu in 17 hours 24 minutes at the age of 41.
• On 30 August 2017, he completed a 19.5 km crossing of the Tsugaru Channel from Honshu to Hokkaido in 14 hours 2 minutes 9 seconds at the age of 42.
• On 29 February 2020, he completed a 23 km crossing of the Cook Strait between North Island and South Island in New Zealand in 10 hours 48 minutes to complete the Oceans Seven at the age of 44.
• Sarchet is the only native of Guernsey to complete a 21.1 nautical mile circumnavigation around the island of Guernsey
• Sarchet finished third in the men’s 1000m winter swim at the Chillswim in Lake Windermere in 2014.
• Sarchet completed in the 1 km ice swimming race at the 2016 Big Chill Swim at the Low Wood Bay Marina, Windermere, England in 6.4ºC water
• On 1 January 2018, his film, Sea Donkey, won the 2017 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.
• He was named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men in 2019 by the World Open Water Swimming Association.

Professional Career

Sarchet is qualified as a solicitor in September 2001. He was called as an Advocate of the Royal Court of Guernsey in January 2002.

Round Jersey swim

• 28 June 2014.
• 06:02 start time
• 17:31 finish time
• 11 hours 29 minutes
• Elizabeth Castle Breakwater, start and finish point
• Governed by the Jersey Long Distance Swimming Club with JLDSC President Sally Minty-Gravett
• Escorted by Sea Swimmer II (JLDSC Club Boat)
• Pilots Charlie Gravett and Mick Le Guilcher
• Crew and support swimmer Graeme Lowe

2017 World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men

Sarchet was named to the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Men in 2017 (alphabetized by last name) by the World Open Water Swimming Association:

1. Dr. Doron Amosi, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel

2. Antonio Argüelles Díaz-González, channel swimmer and endurance athlete from Mexico

3. Cyril Baldock, marathon/channel swimmer from Australia

4. Ram Barkai, administrator, event organizer and ice swimmer from South Africa

5. John Batchelder, butterflying marathon swimmer from USA

6. Nejib Belhedi, marathon/stage/boat pull swimmer from Tunisia

7. Alexander Brylin, channel ice swimmer from Russia

8. Luc Chetboun, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel

9. Salvatore Cimmino, amputee advocate and marathon/extreme swimmer from Italy

10. Jean Craven, marathon/extreme swimmer from South Africa

11. Ned Denison, IMSHOF administrator and marathon/ice swimmer from Ireland

12. Craig Dietz, disabled open water swimmer from USA

13. Ben Enosh, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel/USA

14. Udi Erell, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel

15. Stephen Junk, channel swimmer from Australia

16. Henri Kaarma, event organizer and ice swimmer from Estonia

17. Ger Kennedy, ice, underwater and extreme swimmer from Ireland

18. Craig Lenning, marathon/channel/ice swimmer from the USA

19. Neil Macaskill, extreme/cross-border swimmer from South Africa

20. Pádraig Mallon, escort pilot, event organizer and marathon/channel/ice swimmer from Ireland

21. Ingemar Patiño Macarine, channel/marathon swimmer from the Philippines

22. Andrew Malinak, administrator and cold water/marathon/channel swimmer from the USA

23. Chris Marthinusen, extreme/high-altitude swimmer from South Africa

24. Patrick McKnight, marathon/channel swimmer from the USA

25. Allan McLeland, Peak and Pond swimmer/climber from the USA

26. Darren Miller, channel swimmer and event director from the USA

27. Rohan More, marathon/channel swimmer from India

28. Gullupilli Narhari, extreme relay swimmer from India

29. Matías Ola, event organizer and ice/extreme swimmer from Argentina

30. Kieron Palframan, ice/extreme swimmer from South Africa

31. James Pittar, blind marathon/channel swimmer from Australia

32. Javier Mérida Prieto, disabled Triple Crown swimmer from Spain

33. Lewis Pugh OIG, ocean advocate and ice/extreme swimmer from the UK

34. Oded Rahav, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel

35. Stephen Redmond, channel/marathon swimmer from Ireland

36. Adrian Sarchet, marathon/channel swimmer from Guernsey

37. Ori Sela, extreme relay/cross-border swimmer from Israel

38. Dan Simonelli, coach/guide/observer and marathon/channel swimmer from the USA

39. Paramvir Singh, extreme relay swimmer from India

40. Albert Sobirov, ice swimmer from Russia

41. Petar Stoychev, marathon/channel/ice/Olympic swimmer from Bulgaria

42. Ryan Stramrood, ice/extreme swimmer from South Africa

43. Martin Strel, marathon/stage swimmer from Slovenia

44. Dr. Otto Thaning, channel/marathon swimmer from South Africa

45. Jacques Tuset, prison island swimmer from France

46. Toks Viviers, ice/extreme swimmer from South Africa

47. Adam Walker, coach, event organizer, and channel swimmer from England

48. Christof Wandratsch, event organizer and ice/marathon/channel/professional swimmer from Germany

49. Brenton Williams, event organizer and butterfly ocean swimmer from South Africa

50. Herman van der Westhuizen, extreme high-altitude swimmer from South Africa

2017 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year Nominees

Sea Donkey was nominated for the 2017 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year by the World Open Water Swimming Association:

1. 48 Braçades by Miquel Suñer (Spain)

2. Blue Journey Dangerous Waves Project by Bruckner Chase (USA)

3. Global Swim Series by Rob Kent & Dylan Kent (Canada)

4. LongSwimsDB by Evan Morrison (USA)

5. New York Open Water by David Barra, Rondi Davies & Alex Arévalo (USA)

6. Open Water Swim Academy by Dan Simonelli (USA)

7. Outdoor Swimmer by Simon Griffiths (Great Britain)

8. Sea Donkey with Adrian Sarchet (Guernsey)

9. Shark Bait by Dr. Seán O’Connell (Bermuda)

10. Swim Argentina by Matías Ola (Argentina)

11. The Channel of Bones with Toni Enderli (South Africa)

12. Travessia do Leme ao Pontal by Adherbal de Oliveira & Renato Ribeiro Barbosa (Brazil)

2017 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year Nomination

Sea Donkey tells the story of Adrian Sarchet and his adventure across the North Channel. The documentary, directed by James Harrison, celebrates the depth of the human spirit of an ordinary man, an advocate from Guernsey, who took to the open water with a passionate desire after more than a decade of lawyering. As he closing in on becoming one of the few people who have completed the Oceans Seven, Sarchet is now far beyond the poor health he had previously existed with. Sarchet transformed himself from a law-obsessed professional to a broad-minded adventurer. Through riveting interviews with the protagonist, pilot and crew amid beautiful imagery between Northern Ireland and Scotland, Sarchet’s personal journey is an improbable, mind-bending and astonishing path to becoming one of the world’s most adventurous extreme athletes. For its inspirational message that the documentary delivers, for showcasing the unlikely transformation of an advocate to a risk-taking channel swimmer, for sharing the challenges and joy so prevalent in the sport of open water swimming, Sea Donkey is a worthy nominee for the 2017 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year.