Huge turnout sets up Castle Swim for ‘record-breaking year’
This year’s Castle Swim is on track to raise more money than ever before, after more than 700 people took part.
The annual event gives islanders the chance to swim from Castle Cornet to the Bathing Pools to help raise money for charity.
While some people yesterday were-seasoned open water swimmers, other participants did the challenge as a one-off.
Last year the event attracted about 600 people. This year there were 713.
Organiser Kevin Penney said he was thrilled with the turnout.
‘We are definitely on target for this to be a record-breaking year,’ he said.
Even before the day, 400 people had pre-registered and then the beautiful weather encouraged even more people to sign up on the day.
One of the big groups was the Guernsey Swim All Seasons swimming group, which had nearly 200 people signed up. In advance of the day the group has done practice swims to ensure everyone felt supported and was ready for the challenge.
Among the swimmers taking part were long-time friends Lisa Vizia and Leigh Khankashi.
This was the fourth time Miss Vizia has taken on the swim.
‘It is just perfect conditions today,’ she said.
The sign-up desk at the end of Castle Emplacement was mobbed with people at 10.30am on Sunday. Among the people waiting to sign up were Shirley Ford, 70 and her partner Peter Wells, 79.
‘We do it most years, for at least 10 years,’ Mrs Ford said.
‘There is a good atmosphere and it is nice to go together.’
The swim is open to anyone aged over 10, and that meant a lot of families took part. That included the Hunter family, with dad Wayne and kids Charlotte, 13, and Gil, 16 doing the swim, while mum Becca cheered them on from the sea wall.
‘We just enjoy the challenge,’ said Gil. ‘We will stick together.’
The swimmers set off on batches, with support from kayakers on the water if anyone needed help. The local RNLI, who are one of this year’s recipients, also came to watch in its inshore lifeboat.
The event was sponsored by BWCI, with staff and friends of the company making up the 30 people in the first batch of swimmers.
Among them was Louise Benjamin and Gerard Schilling. The couple normally live in Luxembourg, but spend a couple of months each summer in Guernsey, and this year took on the swim.
That resulted in Mr Schilling being the first person across Havelet Bay this year. While he swims quite a lot, this was his first time crossing La Vallette.
‘My wife always said how amazing it is, so we had to do it,’ he said, ‘and it was amazing.’
While Mr Penney spent the morning ensuring the event went smoothly, as things settled down, he was able to swim across the bay himself with the last group.
‘It was just a lovely swim,’ he said.
This year’s swim was raising money for the RNLI, Channel Islands Air Search and Guernsey Alzheimer’s Association.
