CLASSIC SWIMS NORTH CHANNEL
Brian Meharg and Colm O'Neill during the lat er's North Channel crossing
THE SWIM
Each issue we look at one of the world’s most signifi cant open water swims. This month, Simon Murie looks at a swim that has cast fear into the hearts of many, and with good reason
NEED TO KNOW: NORTH CHANNEL ○ Water type: salt ○ Distance: 18.5 miles ○ Water temperature: 11-14°C ○ Issues: Jellyfi sh, low temperatures and notoriously unstable weather ○ Estimated costs: £2,400 ○ Location base: Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland ○ Further reading:
bangorboats.com ○ Diffi culty ranking: ○ Iconic ranking:
18
Most of the world’s major sea swims occur at the narrowest point between two land masses. Not so the
usual route for the crossing known as the North Channel, between Northern Ireland and Scotland. At its narrowest point, between County Antrim in Ulster and the Mull of Kintyre, the North Channel measures just 13 miles. However, because of the strong currents and diffi cult conditions, most of those who at empt this notoriously diffi cult crossing do so between the Irish mainland in County Down and the Mull of Galloway – a distance of some 18.5 miles. Whichever route they choose to cross it, swimmers know that the channel is considered by many to be the toughest of all the big international swims, and the vast majority of those who try to cross it will fail. Brian Meharg, a local boat pilot from Bangor, County Down, who has escorted swimmers across these waters for the past 20 years, says that the slightly longer route is chosen because strong currents in the narrower channel make the route harder to predict for the boat pilot. Meharg believes the last person to try the shorter swim was the swimming sensation and 1920s It Girl, Mercedes Gleitze, who was the fi rst English woman to swim the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar. In 1928 she was also the fi rst person to at empt the North Channel, beginning in North Down where thousands of people turned out to catch a glimpse of her. That summer, she at empted the North Channel three times, once across the shorter route, but failed on each occasion. Contemporary newspaper reports stated that the Channel could never be crossed.
Photos © Colm O’Neill
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