More than 60 members of Yarmouth Sailing Club, West Wight Swimming Club, and their families and friends recently gathered at the West Wight Sports & Community Centre for an ambitious challenge: to swim the equivalent of the Isle of Wight’s coastline.
The swim – a total of 60 miles – was held on Saturday 22nd March in support of Yarmouth Sailing Club’s Charity of the Year.
Initially, estimates suggested the group might fall short by about 200 lengths. But from the first splash, it was clear the swimmers were determined to go the distance. As volunteers diligently tallied lengths throughout the evening, it became clear that participants were not only hitting their goals, but often exceeding them.
Swimmers of all ages and abilities rose to the occasion. Among the standout performances:
- Bea L, recovering from injury, planned a modest 4 lengths but ended up swimming an impressive 2.05km.
- Cormac B, the youngest swimmer of the day, completed a determined 200m.
- Amelie C was a true powerhouse, clocking in an astounding 4.45km.
- Lottie J swam continuously for nearly 3 hours, notching up a jaw-dropping 10km.
By the end of the evening, the swimmers had achieved a collective total of 113km (70.2 miles) — not only enough to swim around the Island, but to go all the way to Carisbrooke from Yarmouth!
Reflecting on her achievement, Amelie said:
“I couldn’t believe I could swim that far!” Katherine B added with a smile, “It was exhausting, but I loved it — especially the flapjacks afterwards.”
Thanks to generous sponsorship and the swimmers’ incredible efforts, the event has so far raised £2,850, with hopes of breaking the £3,000 mark.
Claire Backhouse, Youth Development Officer for Yarmouth Sailing Club, expressed her gratitude:
“West Wight Sports & Community Centre is a fantastic community asset that so many of us depend upon. We’re incredibly lucky to have it. Thank you not only to our amazing swimmers, who truly pushed themselves, but also to the army of volunteers who counted lengths, baked cakes, and cheered from the sidelines.”
Clare Griffin, Centre Manager at WWSCC, adds:
“All of us at West Wight Sports and Community Centre are incredibly grateful for this fantastic fundraising effort. With some challenging times ahead, it’s so good to know how valued we are to our community. Thank you to everyone who organised, swam, counted lengths, cheered, cooked cakes and sponsored!”
To support this inspiring community effort and help them reach their fundraising goal, donations can be made at www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/yscroundtheislandswim.
The way the ferries are thesedays, good training,
should be able to swim the 1.2 miles to Hurst Point
from Colwell.
Lol