A six women team swam around the Isle of Wight last Thursday in a mere 17h 50m 50s for the 56-mile (90km) challenge.
The Lovelies, as they called, are the first all-female team to have swam around the Island. The last time this swim was completed it was 2002 and done by a team of men and women.
The Lovelies set off from Ryde Pier in the evening of Wednesday 28th September. Each of the six team members – Liane; Lucy; Becky; Rachael; Kathy; Paula – did three swims, with their original plan being …
We’ve got our two super speedy swimmers (Liane and Lucy) setting off, with Liane getting us off to a great start before Lucy gets in to take over. The 3rd and 4th swimmers (Becky and Rachael) also need to be fast (no pressure) as we head down the Solent.
Swimmers 5 and 6 (Kathy and Paula) will be the ones going through a short period of really rough water, including possible whirlpools off St Catherine’s Point.
We’ll then need full steam ahead to get from St Catherine’s to Bembridge before the tide turns. If we turn at the right turn at Bembridge we’ll be on for a record – even less pressure!!!
Read it in their words
Happily for those who are interested, the team wrote a blog about the attempt both during the build-up (not surprisingly there’s a huge amount of training involved) and posts between their swims during the attempt.
It really gives a flavour of what it might be like to be involved. Here’s a post from Rachael, the fourth swimmer …
I’ve just got out of my 3rd swim. Having jumped off the back of the boat and started swimming, Henry stopped me and told me that I was going backwards, he told me to go as close to shore as I could get, to avoid the tides so that’s exactly what I did. I can honestly I’ve never kicked or pulled so hard in my life. As I got closer to the pier I could see the Meridian News film crew filming me off the pier, not wanting to dis-appoint them I upped the gear!
Well done to everyone who was involved.
Image: From The Lovelies site
