Chestnut Appeal for Prostate Cancer: Swim around Burgh Island in Devon

Event Report by Alistair Peel

It was an early start on Sunday as I left Hampshire some 30 minutes later than I wanted to at 6.25am and with a 175 mile journey ahead of me I was already anxious. A lack of sleep was also exacerbated by the 6 ten-year-old boys on a sleep-over which didn’t involve much sleep and my subsequent trip around the villages with two of them who ‘couldn’t sleep due to their imaginations’ at midnight. It wasn’t the ideal preparation therefore for something which felt like a mammoth undertaking.

In the end, the roads to Devon were clear and I arrived at the car park, which was full of people climbing into wet suits, in Bigbury on Sea at around 9.30am. Fifteen minutes later I was also suited up, lubed for chaffing, registered, had paid my parking and was heading down the steps to the beach where all the swimmers, family and friends were congregating.

The race briefing was short: don’t go too close to the island due to the rocks, don’t go too far out due to the rip tide, kayakers and paddle boarders will mark the way. If you are in distress, advice on what to do, etc. Thereafter, we all lined up at the water’s edge, a horn blew and some 215 swimmers entered the water, with some at a gallop, keen to get going.

A mass open water swim start is an extraordinary thing to see and this one was particularly impressive given the beautiful location and perfect conditions. Basically, imagine hundreds of red hatted swimmers doing front crawl off the beach in perfectly calm waters below a bright, almost cloudless, blue sky.

As I rounded the island underneath the magnificent cliffs that make up the south side of Burgh Island, I sighted the beach and more of the kayak support crew.

As I got going, a couple of things struck me: a) it was much colder than I expected; my hands instantly went cold and b) why therefore were several ladies wearing bikinis? and c) please, please don’t be the fellow dragged up the beach on the back of the rescue boat.

It’s hard to explain the next 39 minutes but visually in my mind, it is still very clear. We swam wide of some rocks which I could see were covered in kelp. Thereafter we were into deep water where the sense of depth and ocean became apparent with the colours varying in the sunlight. It never went truly black and so the fear that I have had on a couple of swims never manifested itself. During the course of the swim, I took a couple of short breaks to see where I was and generally take in the views – which were incredible (one of my attached charts shows were I popped my head up). Granny breaststroke wasn’t an option at this stage because I kept getting sea water in my mouth so I ended up doing front crawl all the way.

About half way through I had a slightly irrational panic that my wet suit was too tight across my shoulders but this was quickly put to the back of my mind.

So there you go. A big adventure for me, made all the more worthwhile by your sponsorship. I was genuinely delighted by everyone’s generosity, so thank you. The statistics in the end were 1.37 miles in 39 minutes.

As I rounded the island underneath the magnificent cliffs that make up the south side of Burgh Island, I sighted the beach and more of the kayak support crew. Realising that I was actually doing okay, catching and passing quite a few swimmers I felt really good and slightly surprised at my progress. At this point the chop increased and here I felt almost like a boat crashing into the waves and had to adapt my breathing strategy. Seeing the beach however, was an enormous energiser and eventually I began to see rocks and then crystal white sand. Not long after my hands were striking the sand and I was up on wobbly legs and jogged out of the water to be checked off by two separate individuals. The crowds on the beach were fantastic. A medal, some water and a few selfies and it was back to the registration to collect a hot coffee and the probably the best-tasting Devon pasty in the world.

So there you go. A big adventure for me, made all the more worthwhile by your sponsorship. I was genuinely delighted by everyone’s generosity, so thank you. The statistics in the end were 1.37 miles in 39 minutes.

I’m going to do it again next year. It was a brilliant event, very well organised with extremely friendly people and I can’t recommend it enough. Please join me.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Alistair Peel, Director, Strabens Hall