The 14th annual Solent Swim took place on September 14th and what a fantastic day it was in so many ways! The weather was perfect – flat calm and hardly a breath of wind – although there was an autumn chill in the air which meant swimmers and kayakers really had to wrap up warm before getting into the water!
51 swimmers completed the swim from Hurst to Colwell. They were accompanied by 31 kayakers, 6 support boats and Freshwater Lifeboat. There was also a team of volunteers at Hurst and Colwell and we were delighted to have our MP, Richard Quigley helping as well. It was an inspirational day for all who took part as well as the many spectators and supporters who were on the shore at Colwell to greet the swimmers.
The Solent Swim is our biggest fundraiser of the year and we aim to raise over £20,000 from it each year. These much needed funds help us to continue to provide services to our community.
We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part – you are all an inspiration! We’d also like to thank all the kayakers, boat skippers and crews, Freshwater Lifeboat, Yarmouth Harbour, Needles Pleasure Cruises, Captains Cabin, all the beach volunteers, Needles Coastwatch, HM Coastguard and everyone who supported the event. It was a real community event – thank you!
