Tricks of the mind: swimming in the Faroe Islands
Ben Lane undertook a magnificent swim in the Faroe Islands. Here he shares the mental and physical challenges of exploring Faroe’s islands and skerries by water.
“The Magnificent nine – nine men wearing suits, goggles and gloves. Nine Faroese on their way from Streymoy to Eysturoy. Means of transportation: physical strength. Only stopover: Flesjarnar, a group of skerries located between Hvítanes and Toftir. Distance: approximately 4.5 kilometres.”
This extract, from a blog written in 2016 by journalist Anja Mazuhn, was just enough to sow the seed of a swim idea. After reading it, my wife and I immediately started a master plan to recreate this magnificent sounding swim, from one Faroe island to another.
Contrary to popular belief, the Faroe Islands are not near the Antarctic nor are they somewhere in Portugal. In fact, this cluster of eighteen islands is situated roughly midway between Iceland, Norway and Scotland. Each one holds incredible beauty: sharp cliffs, sweeping glaciated valleys, narrow fjords and pointed basalt peaks that were formed when volcanic rock thrust up from the deep North Atlantic Ocean.
Our only contact on the islands (apart from the folk at Visit Faroe Islands) was Jon Hestoy. Jon is heavily involved in all things swimming; he has been on the committee of LEN, European Aquatics (residing under FINA) and is former President of the Faroe Islands Swimming Association. His latest side hustle, as Former VP of the Faroese Confederation of Sports and Olympic Committee, is working for the Faroe Islands to have rightful Olympic recognition. Jon is a busy man!
We connected with Jon via Zoom before our planned arrival on the islands and asked if he would be happy to help us recreate the “magnificent nine” swim of 2016. Jon being Jon said “yes” without hesitation. You could see the joy in his eyes. But (big but) he could only muster up five swimmers from the islands, which, when you add in my wife and I, makes seven. You can see where this is going…
Our trip was planned for May of this year, our Zoom call with our new friend Jon was in March – we had two months to train up. My wife and I visited Denham Waterski Club, our local part-time swimming lake near Uxbridge, and started building our distances and stamina. It often surprises me how quickly a human body can reach new levels of fitness; we went from 1km swims to 5km swims in no time, building resilience and strength and enjoying the fact our bodies were relishing their swim fitness. There is also the mind to consider. The mind plays tricks and can slow progress, so controlling the mind and calming thoughts via good breathing, good movement and good thinking can help to complete longer and longer distances.
We ordered two Vitalis Thermal Openwater wetsuits and goggles from Orca; this new wetsuit range combines heat retention and a second layer of “batwing” neoprene. Handy when the water temperature was expected to be in single digits on the islands.
By the time our trip came around we were much fitter and well equipped. We felt ready. Our only concern was water temperature. We (as “softies” used to swimming in 14 or 15 degrees and with wetsuits) soon discovered the water around the Faroe Islands is not tropical.
The big day
On the day of our swim (early May), we met Jon and his four friends under a chilly breeze at the harbour in the capital Tórshavn. The conversation was low key and practical; Faroese have (from our perspective) a willingness to share few words, but the words they do share are relevant, to the point and pertinent. They do not waste words.
We hopped on a very small, but very fast, speedboat and left the harbour leaving behind a whirlwind of boiling wake. Our destination (we assumed) was the starting point of our swim – somewhere out there in the cold Atlantic. It was then we felt a sense of doom – a sort of “what the hell are we doing here?” feeling. Jon and his mates were chilled out.
The sea was choppy and the air cold that day, and we had little experience of “proper” sea swimming… we liked flat summery lakes and the occasional mid-summer breezeless estuary swim along quiet coastlines. This was quite different.
Too late. We arrived at a pretty cove about 20 minutes by boat from the capital and the busyness of packing ourselves into wetsuits and small talk diverted our attention. From our anchor point we could just see a little skerry (a rocky island with a pole sticking out the top) in the far distance surrounded by the ice-blue, white-topped waves of the Atlantic. That was our first swim destination, that was our future. The skerry was 2.5km away from the boat, the swim from the skerry to the next island was a further 2km.
Because of the conditions that day Jon was going to view our progress to the skerry before committing to the full 4.5km crossing of island to skerry to island. If he was being cautious, we knew we had to be extra careful. The seven of us plunged into the 7-degree water and we were thankful for our gloves and boots; the sea water stung our faces and even our companions took time to acclimatise. It was deceptively cold, and the wind was picking up adding to the drama.
Wobbly legs and arms
We set of as a group, my wife and I in the middle of the pack with our new friends huddled close either side for security. It was tough going to begin with; we soon forgot about the temperature and whipping winds and choppy water and focused on trying to get into a rhythm. This proved impossible.
Two things stuck me early on; we were travelling with very good swimmers, so there was the pressure of keeping up with them, not letting the side down – this was a bad idea and led to rapid fatigue as their pace was too fast. Our colleagues, in their own quiet Faroese way, recognised this, and slowed their pace. The second thing was the openness and wildness of the seascape and the overwhelming vulnerability you feel, the enormity of it all hit home. This is where mental strength needs to kick in and divert all thoughts to the action of swimming, the action of movement and blanking out fears.
We ploughed on, stroke after stroke, thought after thought, and focussed on good movement and navigating through difficult waters. Soon, a sense of calm was restored. We reached the skerry (2.5km). We knew we could not do the next leg, to the next island. We were shattered by this point, wobbly legs and arms, and Jon could see this and decided the adventure was over. We returned to our support boat nearby and sat quietly reflecting on the swim as we returned to harbour.
It’s all in the mind
We were expecting to be challenged physically but had not fully prepared ourselves for the mental challenges. We were not prepared for the simple things like bonding with our group, knowing our roles, knowing the rules around our swim, understanding the conditions and the unfamiliar environment. Is the oven turned off? It was these nagging thoughts that became the obstacles.
Like all forms of exercise, it is the mental state that will dictate how well you do. The old phrase “it’s all in the mind” still rings true. We sat down with Jon and his friends on our return, and it was then we bonded. Jon looked out longingly to sea and told us a relative had died “out there” when the boat he was sailing in capsized. “The conditions when he died that day were much like today. You can never trust the sea,” he said.
Our time in the Faroe Islands was well spent – it is a truly stunning destination; every turn of the road and crash of a wave brings a new view like no other we have seen. It plays tricks with the mind but that is what makes this place so special.
Where to eat and stay in the Faroe Islands
A good swim deserves a good meal and great night’s sleep. There is a fabulous selection of restaurants and hotels on the Faroe Islands. Ben’s recommends:
For more information, check out Visit Faroe Islands.
Outdoor Swimmer
Outdoor Swimmer is the magazine for outdoor swimmers by outdoor swimmers. We write about fabulous wild swimming locations, amazing swim challenges, swim training advice and swimming gear reviews.
