Relay team completes St Kilda to Harris crossing

After four failed attempts, a seven-person relay team have become the first to successfully swim from St Kilda to Harris in the Western Isles of Scotland.

The first St Kilda Swim attempt took place in June 2014, but was called off after 22 miles due to bad weather. Subsequent attempts were also thwarted by the poor and blustery summer in the islands. 

The 56-mile crossing from Hirta, the largest of the St Kilda islands, to Hushinish took 35 hours. The team set off at 4am on Monday and swam in 45-minute relay legs.
The team saw lots of wildlife on the crossing, including a 30-foot minke whale swimming beneath them.

Team leader Colin Macleod said: “We’re not doing this for ourselves; we’ve been training hard for this swim to raise money for our four charities.”So far the team have raised over £14,500 for the Leanne Fund, the Fishermen’s Mission, the Yorkhill Children’s Charity and the Aberlour Child Care Trust.