From navigating fierce tides to keeping doubts firmly to yourself (and deploying Party Rings when morale starts to flag), two female swimming teams who circled Jersey this summer have offered a glimpse behind the scenes of what it really takes to make it around the island’s coastal waters…
On Thursday 29 July, QSwim Adventure Team Trident, made up of Tina Hawthorn and the mother-daughter duo Emily and Nicola Beckett, swam around Jersey in 12 hours and 18 minutes.
A separate female team, Sea Sirens (Carol Lloyd, Nicola Edson, and Sarah Normand), completed the same relay in 11 hours and 44 minutes, starting from Elizabeth Castle and swimming all the way around on Monday 3 August.
What does the Round Jersey Relay involve?
The Round Jersey Relay involves circumnavigating the island in teams through open-water swimming, with each team member swimming for an hour each on rotation the whole way around the island.
Round Jersey swims traditionally start from Elizabeth Castle breakwater, where you set off in an anti-clockwise direction around the island until you arrive back at the breakwater around 10 to 12 hours later.
In order for the relay to officially count, each team is escorted by a pilot and boat to keep swimmers safe and on course. An observer is also present to ensure the relay meets all the necessary requirements.
Swimmers are also not allowed to wear wetsuits or have any aid when in the water.
How do you coach a team through a relay like this one?
Karen Quatermin, founder and coach of QSwim Adventure, first came to Jersey eight years ago and shortly after completed the Jersey-France Swim.
Ever since, she said she has been constantly “promoting Jersey itself” to her swimmers, describing it as an “amazing” location for open water swimming.
In her words, her role at QSwim is to “pull teams together to do all sorts of swims, particularly around Jersey, Jersey to France swims, relays, all solo”, with Mrs Quatermin coaching “everything from 400-metre swims to 41-mile swims”.
When it comes to pre-challenge preparation, she said that one of the most important things is to ensure that the team “actually gels together, especially if you’re pulling people who’ve never met each other”.
“Mentally, it’s all about self-belief, motivation, and positive vibes. Because what I always teach my swimmers is that you may have a moment of doubt, but you keep that inside your head because your teammate might pick up on that. Cry when you get home, but it’s all smiles on the day,” she said.
Mrs Quatermin explained that open sea swimming can be “a huge demand on the body, mentally and physically” – and, she noted, in a world of social media ‘perfection’, there are a lot of fitness and social influencers whose jobs are “to make these sporting feats look attractive and sell it for being easier than it truly is”.
The highlight of helping teams towards such feats, she said, is seeing on the swimmers’ faces how much it means to them.
“I think for me, it’s bringing together people that might not know each other, making them believe in themselves and actually see them grow through the process,” she explained.
“It’s all about the swimmers, and it’s just phenomenal. Honestly, I mean, I cry on every finish, so I just love it.”
Not all plain swimming… What are the potential challenges?
“We know sea swimming is challenging and conditions around a small island can change quickly, but it was mixed with real excitement to finally get in the water,” Sea Sirens’ Sarah Normand said.
The swimmers faced a few challenges in the water along the way even on the calm weekend. Areas of the Island particularly around Fliquet, Grosnez, and La Corbière can be tricky to circumnavigate, whilst dealing with string headwinds and fierce conditions.
“If I’m honest, we were enjoying the water a bit too much during the first half of the swim, and Hayley – our observer – gave us a well-timed shove to get moving once we hit Grosnez.”
“Party rings turned out to be the key incentive to get us moving again, and Carol powered us past the lighthouse to land us back on track!”
That final moment: hitting Elizabeth Harbour
The QSwim Adventure Team praised the Jersey Long Distance Swim Club for supporting the challenge and training, as well as being present when they hit the final wall at Elizabeth Harbour.
Mrs Normand said that her tea would be joining their club swim for a “victory lap with our friends Team Trident Trio” – “then on to enjoy some lovely Jersey food before some of us sadly head home,” Mrs Normand continued.
Nicola Beckett, a swimmer on Team Trident, spoke to Express about the joyous moment of reaching the finish line after a lengthy day out at sea.
“It was just wonderful, and then to be met at the end by members of the Long Distance Swimming Club and being able to sort of celebrate with those, and them being as excited about the swim as we were. It’s absolutely fantastic,” she said.
When recounting their swimming adventures to others, Nicola explained that “lots of people think we’re just slightly mad or maybe we are ‘extreme’, but we think it’s quite fun and keeps us fit and healthy”.
Nicola completed the challenge alongside her daughter Emily Beckett, who praised her mum for being her inspiration throughout.
“I’m totally in awe of both Tina and mum, and I do hope that when I’m in my 50s – because I’m 24 – that I am still swimming around the islands, because I think that’s such a cool thing to do.”
