John Ryan

Porthcawl to Glenthorne, 23-6-26, 13hours 15 minutes 0seconds. Ratified by the BCSA

Captains log – The story of the swim by Off the Slip (Toms alter ego!) –

Yesterday I piloted a fabulous swim, a privilege and an honour! Buckle up, this is a long one…

John Ryan was supposed to be swimming later in the year but after an insane swim in the freezing Irish outback 6 weeks ago, we discussed moving forward, and with 2 days of crazy hot weather on the forecast, the die was cast. Both days looked similar on the forecast, sea breezes in the morning but fantastic afternoons. We went for day 1 to give ourselves the biggest window.

Locking out at first light and blasting across, Glenthorne House greeted us in the early morning sun; beautiful as ever. We waited for the worst of the tide to calm before dropping John in, he swam ashore and began his epic adventure. Off the beach he gave me exactly what I asked for, a push to get us clear. I had to ask his crew if that’s what I was getting all day at one stage because we were absolutely flying!

Clearing Foreland point, the wind and the chop started. Ok at first, but building. As the tide turned, the wind built, and it was now over the tide. Chop. That horrible chop that bats you in the face, stops you getting into a rhythm, asks you a lot of questions. This wasnt really on the menu. I know from past experience I would be a bit stroppy if it were me…..but fair play to the man, John just lapped it up, did everything we and his crew asked of him. Took the beating without a single negative thought on show and just cracked on. I cant stress how much respect I’ve got for that cos that is such a difficult thing to do when youre being asked some tricky questions.

As well as testing Johns metal, that strong easterly wind and waves held us up on the second leg; we were expecting to be inside of Nash Sands on what was quite a small tide but when the tide turned for the second time, we were way inside. A few miles further west. With the wind dropping as forecast, the sea flattening as the tide was with it, John swam on….but we had a problem brewing.

Without those few miles of west, we wernt picking up such a strong Northly push from the ebbing tide and we were wide of Porthcawl. As we eased North, we turned his bearing to close down the distance to land and use the tide to sail us up the coast to Porthcawl. If we had of got the westerly push, he would have sauntered into Coney bay in probably 11 hours….but we were wide. The sea was super calm at this point, Johns swim crew were super chilled cos it was flat calm and the beach was just there….but we were sailing past everything. Past Coney, past the pier, past Porthcawl…..and now we were into the rip of doom. The problem was here. To the North West of Porthcawl there are two sandbanks, the rip off Porthcawl flied between them and directly out to sea. John stopped for a feed and we drifted 100 metres straight out. Boys, we need a chat. I know its flat calm and the beach is there, but I REALLY need you to all do your thing right now. every second is literally critical. No more messing around, this is it. I know things hurt, I know you’ve done some serious hard yards, I know it looks like it party time….but if you want to be a Bristol Channel swimmer, now is the time. Crew need to do their thing, swimmer needs to do his thing. Now.

For the second time in this cruise, hats off to the man. No messing no questions, the hammer was down. Massive hats of to his swim crew too, they did exactly what they needed to keep him focused and pushing and a very tricky stage of the game. Every stroke now was critical in closing down the distance to shore and pulling us through the rip. Every stroke was pulling success closer. Every stroke must have hurt….but John kept smiling and kept pulling us through.

Slowly but surely, John dragged us across and through the rip and secured himself one of the best finishes I think I’ve witnessed, flat calm with a beach of slightly stunned people watching a slightly giddy Irishman coated in white war paint stumble his way above the water line….whilst a slightly noisier Irishman barked at them all to get out the way and not touch him .

Fairplay lads that was a fantastic swim that put us all through the ringer several times, the channel asked all the questions and John answered them all with a smile and ploughed on through. I always say channel swimming is 90% mental and the rest is all in your head. John demonstrated some impressive mental fortitude all day long, he took the beating and answered with a smile. He fully deserves to take his bow and earns a lot of respect from me for a fantastic approach to the whole swim. Congrats my friend .

Also need to give a huge nod to Johns swim crew. Solo channel swimming is a team sport. The team around you are critical to making your life as the swimmer easier. Ger and Ian had everything under control, every time they needed to do their part, it was ready to go. Every time John needed a word, they said the right things. Having people with experience in your corner that know what your going through, what you need to hear is so important.

Huge thanks to Alex for crewing and Alison at the marina too for our super early lock out. None of this is possible without you guys

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