Plymouth swimmers making waves

Close encounters with seals, dolphins and the Royal Navy: Jason Mann shares the story of an adventurous band of Plymouth long-distance swimmers

An adventurous band of Plymouth swimmers are making waves with their ocean exploits.

Plymouth Open Water Swimmers have tackled some of the UK’s toughest swims since being formed just four years ago. Their achievements include long distance successes in locations as far afield as Jersey, Loch Ness and the Eddystone Lighthouse as well as a team of six setting a new record of 13 hours and 17 minutes for the gruelling 28 miles between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Close encounters with dolphins, seals and even the Royal Navy feature among the group’s memorable encounters.

Neil Brinkworth, an IT expert who lives in Plympton, founded the group with another swimmer, Sarah Shortt, of Ivybridge, in 2020. Both of them had already conquered what is often considered the blue riband event of long-distance swimming, the English Channel.

Neil said: “Open water swimming has become hugely popular in recent years and there are many brilliant clubs, but we wanted to form a group that trained for long swims of several hours or more and that’s not for everyone. It’s quite niche.”

Interest in the group has grown rapidly and it now has about 600 members and nearly 1,000 followers on Facebook.

“Training sessions are regularly attended by a small core of swimmers,” said Neil. “We swim right through the year without wetsuits. In the summer, the swim might be anything from one hour to six hours and, in the depths of winter, perhaps as little as 20 minutes. It can feel very cold at times, but your body adapts to it.”

The group meets at Firestone Bay, Plymouth, late afternoon or early evening on a Tuesday and at weekends.

Neil got into long-distance swimming after having to quit triathlons in 2008 because of a knee injury. “It stopped me running,” he said. “But I didn’t fancy taking up cycling and so switched to swimming. I wasn’t a very good swimmer in those days – I’d never been a member of a formal swimming club. I tried a 10km swim in the River Dart and, though I completed the course, ended up with sore shoulders and totally fatigued. At the time I swore I’d never do it again.”

He soon changed his mind, however, and completed many more 10km swims before moving on to longer distances. “It’s become a real passion and a type of escapism. Life is so hectic it’s great to get into the water and just swim. It’s a form of solitude where you have time to reflect but also a great way to meet new people and establish strong, lasting friendships. It’s not a race. I am swimming against myself. It’s my own personal challenge.”

Neil completed the English Channel in 17 hours and 43 minutes in July 2019. The following year he became only the fourth person – and the first for more than 30 years – to swim from the Eddystone Lighthouse to Plymouth. The 13.7-mile swim in just over 11 hours remains his proudest sporting achievement along with a 32-mile swim around Jersey in 2021.

The Eddystone swim presented a variety of challenges, the most serious of which arose before he even entered the water. His careful seven-month-long preparations almost fell apart at the last minute when it looked like a Royal Navy live gunnery exercise off Plymouth breakwater would prevent it going ahead. “I only became aware of the issue a few days before the swim. I was devastated. We had been careful to carry out all the necessary checks. I contacted the Royal Navy and, amazingly, they moved the exercise further east so that my swim could go ahead. It was unbelievable and I am so grateful to them.”

Neil arrived at the Eddystone before dawn ready to start the swim. “Eddystone loomed out of the darkness. I jumped into the water and immediately went tense. It was like being squeezed in a vice. I had to talk to myself and get a grip. After a while, I was able to compose myself and start the swim which actually turned out to be very pleasurable.”

But the challenges were by no means over. As Neil neared the lighthouse at Plymouth breakwater, he was brought to a halt for two hours while two naval ships went past and then, less than half a mile from the finish, had to stop again for 25 minutes due to the passing of another naval ship.

The record-breaking Scilly swim completed in 2022 by a Plymouth relay team of Neil, Amanda Holland, Mike Goodman, Lindsey Walke, Jacob Roberts and Denise Ward was also subject to last-minute uncertainties – but this time due to the weather. “In the days running up to the swim, the weather was horrendous,” said Neil. “We thought there was no way it was going to go ahead, but then a window of better weather arrived. The conditions turned out to be idyllic and, in fact, got better as the day went on.”

In 2023, five of the Scilly relay team – Neil, Amanda, Mike, Lindsey and Jacob – crossed the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland in just over 12 hours with another Plymouth Open Water Swimming Group member, Andrew Butler.

Lindsey Walke, of Plymouth, has become known as the Dr Dolittle of the club after her many close encounters with seals and dolphins. “I seem to attract them,” she laughed. “They’ve swum under me and over me and, in fact, one dolphin came so close I thought he was going to kiss me!

“It can be a little off-putting having such a large animal swim close to you in the open water. You are in their domain, but I’ve never felt scared. They are just being inquisitive and trying to work out what you are.”

Lindsey has a long history of swimming success. In her teens, she represented Devon and Cornwall and Western Counties at swim galas all over the country. Later, she represented the British Army while serving as a paramedic and, most recently, Devon and Cornwall Police where she is a sergeant, having served 24 years. One of Lindsey’s greatest achievements came in June this year when she completed the swim from Eddystone lighthouse to Plymouth Hoe in eight hours and 32 minutes, the second fastest time ever. She has now set her sights on swimming the English Channel next year.

“I love swimming,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how cold it is or what the weather is like, a swim always puts a smile on your face. I’m fascinated by what is happening under the water and regularly have a GoPro camera with me. The other beautiful thing about swimming is that it is a very sociable pursuit. I have made some great friendships.”

Another member of the group, Andrea Ayres, added a further iconic success to the club’s growing list of achievements by braving water temperatures as low as 13ºC to swim the length of Loch Ness this summer, completing the 23 miles in 22 hours. Less than 40 people have successfully completed this immensely challenging swim.

“The water was colder than I expected,” said the mother-of-two who lives in Bovey Tracey and works for Natural England. “I had a bit of a panic attack when I found out it was only 13ºC. That is at the lower end of my tolerance. I had swum Loch Lomond last year and the temperature was 16ºC.”

Easing herself into the chilly water from the jetty, Andrea set herself the target of at least completing an hour. “Once I got past that first hour, I took it half an hour at a time and my support team gave me more frequent feeds to help keep me warm.

“I had been aiming to complete the swim in about 16 hours, a similar time to my Loch Lomond swim, but I found I was swimming slower than usual, probably because of the cold. It was not a comfortable swim. The landscape was beautiful – I could see the mountains in the distance – but I didn’t see anything in the water apart from a few leaves, no fish and there was certainly no sign of Nessy!” At 2.30am, she crawled ashore on a gravelly beach – to be promptly taken away for “the best hot shower I have ever had!”

Jason Mann’s new book, The Echoing Shore, is out now.