The sun was shining and the wind blowing in the right direction on Saturday 9th August, enabling Isle of Wight Marlins Swim Club to hold the Pier2Pier Sea Swim from Sandown Pier to the site of the old Shanklin Pier.
At 2pm 174 swimmers, 87 of these from the Island, entered the water and swam across the 1.8 miles of the Bay. The fastest male swimmer was Benjamin van De Helstraete (Seaclose S.C) in 34:52 minutes and the fastest lady was Nikki Chapman in 36:39 minutes.
Benjamin was the fastest Island Male and Rosie Brooman (Seaclose S.C) the fastest Island Lady in 40:11. As the rest of the swimmers came up the beach to the finish line there were plenty of smiles of success, relief. Huge congratulations to everyone!
Music and prize-giving
There was a large crowd to see the start and the finish, where they were entertained by FatSamba as the swimmers came in. The Trophies were presented by Chamber of Commerce CEO and Pier2Pier swimmer, Rob Johnson.
The P2P team and Marlins Swim Club are very grateful to everyone who volunteered to help with the swim – both on land and at sea. Making sure we knew just who entered the water at Sandown and that all 174 swimmers arrived safely at Shanklin requires a lot of people to work together.
Supporting the race
Every year the crew of the Sandown and Shanklin Independent Lifeboat coordinate the flotilla of safety craft and private kayakers who accompany the swimmers. This year they were supported by Ryde Inshore Rescue and Bembridge RNLI Lifeboat.
Ryde Beach Lifeguards once again played a vital role in guiding the swimmers to Shanklin Sandown Rowing Club who provided them with hot soup and other refreshments.
Isle of Wight Marlins Swim Club is able to contribute to the fundraising of all these organisations from the swimmers’ entry fees.
Date for your diary
The 72nd Swim will take place on Saturday 18th July 2026.
Trophy winners
- Fastest male 15-17 years: No entries
- Fastest female 15-17 years: Isobel Muncaster
- Fastest man: Benjamin van de Helstraete
- Fastest woman: Nikky Chapman
- Fastest Island man: Benjamin van de Helstraete
- Fastest Island woman: Rosie Brooman
- Fastest breaststroker: Michelle Martin
- Generation trophy: Team VDH
- Fastest woman 21-29 years: No entries
- Fastest woman 30-39 years: Alice Gatland
- Fastest woman 40-49 years: Laura Wilcox
- Fastest woman 50-64 years: Nikki Chapman
- Fastest woman 65+ years: Lindsey Shenton
- Wetsuit overall female: Elizabeth O’Connor
- Fastest man 18-20 years: Benjamin van de Helstraete
- Fastest man 21-29 years: Oliver Foster
- Fastest man 30-39 years: John Dixon
- Fastest man 40-49 years: Trent Eriksson
- Fastest man 50-64 years: Russall Cooper
- Fastest man 65+ years: Stephen Baker
- Wetsuit overall male: Mik Onions
- Fastest team of 4 swimmers: Seaclose SC
- Most senior female finisher: Angie Stant
- Most senior male finisher: Martin Phillips
News shared by Mobes on behalf of Isle of Wight Marlins Swim Club. Ed
