Glenthorne to Porthcawl, 8-8-26, 14hours 11 minutes 04seconds. Ratified by the BCSA
Boguslaw Ogrodnik
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 [another] a long one…!
Last year I was contacted by Polish Swimmer and mountaineer, Boguslaw Ogrodnik inquiring for an Original Triple Crown swim. He had almost completed the Oceans Seven and the seven highest mountains on Earth, had a whole bunch of other records and assuming he completed the North Channel, Bristol Channel would complete his Original Triple Crown. Last month, Boguslaw completed his North Channel in an incredible 20 hours and 46 minutes, I was expecting a good bit of rest before the Bristol Channel attempt….but he actually rang me a day later to ask if we could swim Bristol Channel “on the way home”, such is the measure of the man!! About a month later, we actually got our shot. Early lock out arranged, good forecast, small tide, everything was set and Boguslaw slipped into the water at first light under Glenthorne house. Boguslaw had been keen to stress he isn’t the fastest swimmer and the plot had taken a lot of work to try and give him the most time and absolute best shot of landing this swim. The die was now cast. 16 Miles of open water in the second strongest tide in the world was now all that stood in our way back to Porthcawl.
Nothing great is easy.
16 miles, the second strongest tide in the world, and a really nasty ledge just off Foreland point, was now all that stood in our way back to Porthcawl.
16 miles, the second strongest tide in the world, a nasty ledge, and an 8.5 mile long sandbank blocking our path into Welsh waters, was all that stood in our way back to Porthcawl.
16 miles, the second strongest tide in the world, a nasty ledge, an 8.5 mile sandbank, and a crazy Welsh tide that runs you back down the coast at twice the speed even the best swimmers can swim if you get it wrong, was all that stood in our way back to Porthcawl.
16 miles, the second strongest tide, nasty ledge, 8.5 mile sandbank, crazy Welsh tide and a tidal island… was all that stood in our way back to Porthcawl.
(People constantly underestimate this swim!!!) 16 miles, the second strongest tide, nasty ledge, 8.5 mile sandbank, crazy Welsh tide and a tidal island… and another set of sandbanks that funnel the tide directly out to sea…. was all that stood in our way back to Porthcawl.
Perfect. Thread the eye of the needle and we are golden.
Leg 1. The start time on the tide is absolutely critical to the success of this swim. Today even more so. Bogoslaw cleared the water then swam out strongly into a beautiful sunrise, the die was cast. Nothing in life is free….and leaving the beach earlier meant we were run harder down channel into an area in front of the point that can get quite rough. We cleared the point and skirted the edge of the ledge in calm water, perfect. Boguslaw settled into his rhythm and powered forward. We sneaked North as the sun rose. As the tide began to slacken the plot looked great. We made our first turn further North than any other track I’ve piloted, we had stolen some extra time. Perfect.
Leg two. On the second leg the water is actually running west, but also slightly south as the channel forces the water narrower from 24 miles wide near the Gower to 12 miles wide at Nash point. The game on this leg is to gain as much northerly ground as we can but also try and get us into the right point east/west to pick up the race to Porthcawl. That easterly shift is down to the size of the tide. And the wind. And a function of your heading. And swim speed. I knew where my numbers said we needed to be, but that’s not how the channel works!! Boguslaw swam on like a metronome, same stroke, same rate for mile after mile, feed after feed. His experience here really shone. On the second turn, we were slightly west of where I wanted to be because of the wind, but our position looked pretty good. West of Nash Point and on the outside of the sandbank, avoiding the fight through Nash Passage on the Eastern end of the bank but also not picking up such a hard Northerly flow on the Ebb.
Leg three. The track started to bare more north as the tide turned….but the speed. The speed was all but gone. Had I miscalculated the tide? Where we too far West to pick up the push? Was it the wind? Had the North Channel ordeal taken more out of Boguslaw than he thought? The die is cast, the chips are in play, we have the hand we have been dealt; whatever happens on the day, its one stroke to the next, one feed to the next. Boguslaw swam on. Stroke after stroke, feed after feed. He was doing all he could.
Trust the process.
Slowly but surely, the speedo started to move. The speed over the ground climbed. And climbed. And climbed. Our extra man was coming out to bat after all! We were now 6 miles from home but with the full power of the second strongest tide in the world behind us for the next six hours, we were in a great place to roll it home. We accelerated past the sandbank, waved at Tusker [and Fairy] Rock as we steamed past and threaded the track into the calm water in the lee of Porthcawl Pier, avoiding the rip back out to sea through the banks. Only one thing left to do, stroll out of the water onto the golden sand near Locks Common and claim the prize!
As ever, the channel had one last twist for us, and decided, in the last few hundred metres, to send the boat back toward Porthcawl, there would be no sandy beach finish. Perhaps fitting for such an acclaimed mountaineer, it would be a sheer rock face, lit up orange in the setting sun. Boguslaw touched the rock to stop the clock on 14 hours, 11 minutes, 4 seconds [subject to ratification]. Superb swim. Boguslaw swam like a champ, paced his effort from start to finish swim, gave us exactly what we needed the whole day long and fully deserves an awesome track and result. He made his way back to the boat and we cruised round to the Marina with a big grin on his face and a very happy boat!
Fabulous swim only a month after his North Channel epic. By my count, that also makes Boguslaw the first (and therefore fastest!) Polish person to swim the Bristol Channel, and first Pole to claim the Original Triple Crown.
English channel 20 hours 33mins (27th July 2014)
North Channel 20hours 46mins (10th July 2026)
Bristol Channel 14 hours 11mins (8th August 2026)
Huge thanks to Alex and Andy crewing and observing, Boguslaws swim crew Ilana and the marina for our super early lock out; none of this is possible without you guys 
Join the discussion on facebook here