Exmouth duo in charity swim across North Channel

Two Exmouth men joined two women from Henley-on-Thames in a 35km charity relay swim across the North Channel last Wednesday (22 June).

The group of four set out from Northern Ireland and swam in turns, reaching Scotland after 14 hours and 49 minutes.

They raised over £2,500 for charity Surfers Against Sewage.

Bricklayer Max Norman from Exmouth, and physics teacher Gary Robb who lives in the town, stepped in at the last minute to fill two empty spots in Henley Mermaids swimming group Laura Reineke and Joan Fennelly's relay team.

L to R: Joan Fennelly, Gary Robb, Laura Reineke, Max Norman (Henley Mermaids)

Both Max and Gary are part of the Exmouth Beach Rescue Club and train youngsters at the weekend. Mr Robb was also sponsored by Exmouth Watersports.

The team of four took it in turns to swim for an hour, with Laura starting them off at 5.30am from Donaghadee in Northern Ireland and Max finishing the relay near Portpatrick in Scotland.

The route across the North Channel from Donaghadee in Northern Ireland to near Portpatrick in Scotland (Google Maps)

Max said: "It was really great to be honest, we had really good conditions.

"The water was a lot colder [than at Exmouth]. It was in the 11s, 11.8 degrees maybe. There's a deep-water trench called Beaufort's Dyke and as you swam over that it was noticeably colder.

"You came out and you were proper shivering. You get all your layers on, your handwarmers, get a hot drink and a bit of food and just kind of try and warm up while the rest of the team is doing their relay. By the time you've just about warmed up it was time for you to go in again!

"We were hoping to get into a place called Portpatrick, and it wasn't that far away. But as I got in and started swimming there was this nasty current that pulled us up the coast. In the end, we slowly came in ... and finished on the cliffs."

Click here if you would like to donate to the Henley Mermaids fundraiser on JustGiving for Surfers Against Sewage.