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Islanders have heaped praise on a local swimmer, who bowed out of a world record attempt to lap Jersey three times following health concerns.
Andy Truscott, who holds several records to his name, set off early yesterday morning as part of an attempt to swim 198km (123miles) - 4km further than the current record holder, Veljko Rogosic.
Andy made good progress, completing his second lap at 04:30 this morning, 22 hours and 32 minutes into his swim.
However, as his supporting team explained, health concerns led him to decide not to continue onto a third lap.
Pictured: Andy completed two of his three laps in 22 hours and 32 minutes.
“The crew gave Andy a chance to carry on swimming, to reflect on his decision and make sure it was absolutely what he wanted to do,” they said. “The crew were in a tough position whereby they wanted him to push on, but comments Andy had made about his body and health raised concerns that needed to be taken with serious consideration.
“An hour or so after the conversation at Corbiere, Andy committed to concluding his swim at the end of Lap 2. We wanted to wait until he officially ended his swim before we announced it, just incase anything changed and the swim continued.”
Video: Andy starting on his second lap.
However, islanders were soon to point out the scale of his achievement, even though he didn’t make the world record he had hoped.
Nikki Brown said in a Facebook post: “Wow Andy, you know what, to swim round Jersey once is an amazing achievement, but twice is incredible and to have done it twice is a massive ask! Sometimes you have to listen to yourself and your body, taking it a third time, might have been too much to ask for anyone! But now you have accomplished and learnt from this swim, you can achieve plenty more!”
Jo Carpenter commented: “Absolutely phenomenal! I swam for 40 minutes this morning and was trying to imagine what it would be like to attempt the challenge you took on. I cannot begin to imagine your physical and mental strength, you are quite simply awesome. Very well done and even more compelling is that you listened to your body.”
Pictured: Islanders have heaped praise on Andy for his "amazing achievement."
“From Andy and the crew aboard Lionheart we want to sincerely thank everyone who followed his progress online, engaged with the updates and showed incredible support for a local athlete. Your engagement kept us laughing and talking throughout the swim, giving us messages to pass to Andy and motivation to share updates and bring people together to celebrate a willingness to push oneself their limits,” Andy’s team added.
Andy is no stranger to records and swimming challenges. Last summer, he became the first person to complete a double non-stop swim around Jersey.
It was a 22-hour challenge that saw him cover almost 80 miles – reportedly the world’s fifth longest tidal swim anyone has ever achieved.
Video: Andy setting off for his Double Round Jersey swim in July 2018.
Andy was also the first to swim from the Minquiers to Jersey, and to complete a Jersey-to-France-to-Jersey swim. And, of course, he’s also notched up an English Channel crossing.
On 7 July, he completed his fourth round Jersey swim in just under 11 hours.
As a keen swimmer, Andy – who is an estate agent during the day - he’s also an avid environmentalist, and has helped raise money for, and the profile of, a number of charities.
He is also keen to raise the profile for sea swimming and other minority sports.
Pictured: Andy during his fourth Round Jersey swim.
He set off for his new challenge on Thursday morning from the breakwater at Elizabeth Castle.
Closely followed by a team of eight - Matt, Richard, Sam, Alice, Chantelle, John, Dee and Sam – on board of Lionheart Pilotage, he reached La Rocque two hours and 20 minutes later.
Video: Andy setting off from Elizabeth Castle on Thursday morning.
Every hour on the hour, the crew kept him hydrated and energised with a mixture of carbohydrate powder and diluted fruit juice. The crew also varied things up with a biscuit or lucozade on every other feed.
He reached the Five Mile road just before 14:00 when he was on track to finish his first Lap around the 11-hour mark.
"This is a great time to highlight the mental fortitude needed for marathon swims," one of the crew wrote on Andy's page. "The swimmer's mentality needs to be as consistent as their stroke. Thoughts of self doubt, of tedium, of 'I'd sooner be anywhere else' need to be dealt with internally.
Video: Andy kept his energy levels with regular stops for a quick drink and snack.
"Unlike other sports Andy is presented with very few options to vent, so his anxieties are almost exclusively internalised. To his crew, Andy's stubbornness is one of his defining characteristics. This trait will carry him forward when thoughts to the contrary seep in."
Andy was joined in the water by crew member Alice in mid-afternoon as she jumped in to give him some moral support.
The crew explained she was not allowed to swim ahead of Andy as this would be seen as "'pace setting' and would cause the swim to be called off."
Video: One of the crew members, Alice, joined Andy for a short swim to encourage him.
Equally, she was only able to stay in the water for one hour at a time, leaving a two-hour break between each of her swims.
"There's a lot of rules to this sport, all seemingly designed to make the swim as intensive and personal as possible," the crew said.
Andy was further cheered when family, friends and supporters came to cheer on him at La Rocque at the beginning of his second lap.
This lifted his spirits after the first lap which the crew said was "harder than expected."
Pictured: Andy during feed 13 after seeing supporters cheering him on at La Rocque.
"It can't be understated that those who went out to La Rocque to cheer Andy on from the end of the pier about an hour ago massively helped increase his mood. Seeing and hearing the shouts of support from friends, family and well-wishers clearly touched him and he's been on a positive rush ever since," the crew wrote.
The crew followed Andy all the way through the night as he kept "chugging along" despite 'the early adversity he faced and the bitter cold he's battled with since."
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