Kamil Resa Alsaran — Into the Welsh Night
A tandem start, a solitary finish and a crossing that helped bring the long Bristol Channel route back into view
Two swimmers leave Devon
At 09:13 on 10 September 2020, Kamil Resa Alsaran and Emre Deliveli set off together from the beach below Glenthorne House. Tom Chapman’s observer report describes a calm beginning: the pair matched their pace, side by side, with Yasemin Bagana supporting them from the escort RIB. The plan was a tandem crossing towards Porthcawl. [1]
By nightfall, that partnership would give way to a solo push for the Welsh shore. The finish would be near Monknash, east of the intended destination. [1]
A calm sea, a shared rhythm
The morning had begun at Swansea, where the swimmers and support team loaded Cougar, the small escort RIB, for the journey to Devon. Once across, Kamil and Emre swam ashore beneath Glenthorne House, where someone was waiting to see them off. The sea was 16.9°C; the air, at 13.9°C, was cooler. [6]
Beyond the beach, rafts of seaweed interrupted otherwise flat water. The briefing had been clear: neither swimmer was to move ahead of the other and offer a draft. For hours they held their rhythm alongside one another, keeping clear of each other and the boat. Feeds punctuated the steady progress, with Emre taking CNP and Kamil UCAN. There were bouts of vomiting, but much of the crossing passed quietly. [6]
The channels before Bristol
Kamil arrived with substantial experience. The Irish Long Distance Swimming Association records an English Channel crossing on 4 September 2012 in 13 hours 19 minutes, followed by the North Channel on 29 July 2019 in 13 hours 55 minutes 37 seconds. Bristol added another demanding stretch of British water to that sequence. [2]
The three swims also placed his name in a conversation reaching back to Kevin Murphy and Ted Keenan. ILDSA’s awards account grouped their achievements under Original Triple Crown recognition. That published recognition is part of the swim’s reception; the later questions about course qualification are set out below. [2], [4]
When the tide turned
The observer’s account places the change in the early evening. The tide began carrying the swimmers east towards Nash Sands. Asked to increase the pace, Kamil could go faster, but Emre was tiring. They reached the sandbank in darkness. A little more wind, meeting the shallow water, had raised waves, and the pilot asked both swimmers to push harder. Kamil had another gear available; Emre was tiring, and Kamil had repeatedly been asked to ease back so they could remain together. Eventually Emre was asked to leave the water so Kamil could press on. His attempt ended at 20:49; the observer recorded that he was disappointed and tired, but otherwise all right. Kamil pressed on and reached the Welsh shore at approximately 22:21: 13 hours 8 minutes after the start. [1]
It was the finish of a crossing, even though it was not the Porthcawl landing the pair had set out to reach. Both parts belong in the account. [1]
A crossing noticed beyond the Channel
The performance attracted attention internationally. WOWSA’s 2020 awards coverage, published after the swim, selected Kamil’s achievement as its World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year. Contemporary publicity celebrated his endurance and connected the crossing with his earlier channel swims. [3]
Award accounts are evidence of how a swim was received at the time. They need to be read alongside the actual start, landfall and observer record. Here, those documents allow the physical achievement to stand while questions about a named multi-channel challenge are considered separately. [1], [2], [3], [4]
One more journey before home
The landing did not quite end the day’s adventures. With Kamil back aboard, Cougar set off for Swansea. On the return journey the boat took on water, and its engine stopped just outside the harbour. After the long crossing, the last stretch home was completed under tow from the port pilot boat. [6]
Legacy: a swim others were watching
One of the people watching was the observer himself. In his later account of his own Bristol Channel plans, Tom Chapman identified observing Kamil as a spur to get his project moving. In 2021, Tom would begin his own series of crossings. Kamil’s swim therefore connects with the renewed activity that followed, through a direct participant’s recollection rather than a claim that the Channel had been forgotten. [5]
That is a lasting place in this history: a swimmer crossing from Devon to Wales, and another swimmer aboard the boat beginning to turn an ambition into a plan. [1], [5]
The historical record: notes and discrepancies
The dated observer account and ILDSA list support 10 September 2020 and 13:08. The project database previously gave 20 September; a general route narrative also gives 13:09. This article follows the more detailed timed observer account. [1], [2]
The individual BCSA page has an inconsistent “Porthcawl to Monk Nash” heading, but its start field and both participant accounts say Glenthorne, Devon. The recorded landing was in the Monknash area, not Porthcawl. [1]
Contemporary Original Triple Crown recognition and the WOWSA performance award should not be conflated. Openwaterpedia later states that the Original Triple Crown designation was rescinded following consultation with its arbiter; the original decision and rationale have not been obtained. No claim to current Original Triple Crown status is made here. Tom reports MSF ratification, also stated on the BCSA individual page. [1], [2], [3], [4]
Claims that no Bristol Channel swim had occurred since 1982 are too broad for the surviving record and are not adopted. No additional dialogue or thoughts have been invented.
Historical research, sources and further reading
- BCSA: Kamil’s account and Tom Chapman’s dated observer report, including start and finish times. View public source
- ILDSA Awards 2020–21: earlier channel results and contemporary recognition. View public source
- WOWSA: 2020 Performance of the Year announcement. Historical award wording. View public source
- Openwaterpedia: later note concerning Original Triple Crown designation. Secondary source; underlying ruling not inspected. View public source
- Tom Chapman: firsthand account of the influence of observing Kamil’s swim. View public source
- Tom Chapman, observer report for Emre Deliveli and Kamil Resa Alsaran’s swim, 10 September 2020. Supplied Word and PDF copies reviewed; all contain the same account. Original saved in the Monster Swims research archive.
Archive material and photographs
Original GPS recording supplied by Tom Chapman: original saved in the Monster Swims research archive. Its timestamps run from 09:13 to 22:22 BST on 10 September 2020; the recording window is distinct from the observer’s official swim time of 13 hours 8 minutes. The track image is reproduced above.
Research documents: original saved in the Monster Swims research archive. The ten photographs of this crossing were supplied by Tom Chapman. Image credits and reproduction permissions are recorded centrally here rather than repeated beneath each photograph; any third-party rights should be confirmed before publication.
BRISTOL CHANNEL SWIMMING · HISTORICAL ARCHIVE · 1927–2027