Claire Leighton - Bristol Channel (Glenthorne - Porthcawl)

England (Glenthorne) to Wales

21.6 km (13.4 miles)

9 hours, 13 minutes on 30 June 2021

Observed and documented by Geth Jones

Contents

Swimmer

  • Name: Claire Leighton
  • Gender: female
  • Age on swim date: 49
  • Nationality: British
  • Resides: Ripley, Woking, Surrey, UK

Support Personnel

  • Adrian Leighton - crew
  • Alex Carr - crew
  • Ceri Davies - pilot

Observer

Geth Jones

Geth was the first person to swim the “outer” route of the Bristol Channel (Ilfracombe to Swanswa).

Escort Vessel

Name Type Port
Cobra 9m Rib Swansea

Swim Parameters

  • Category: Solo, nonstop, unassisted.
  • Rules: MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, without exception or modification.
  • Equipment used: Textile swimsuit (Funkita single strap one-piece), ear plugs, swim cap, goggles.

Route Definition

  • Body of Water: Bristol Channel
  • Route Type: one-way channel swim
  • Start Location: Glenthorne, Devon, England (51.237124, -3.748071)
  • Finish Location: near Monknash Beach (51.419329, -3.579902)
  • Minimum Route Distance: 21.6 km (13.4 miles) (map)

Since the swimmer did not reach the traditional finish of this route (Porthcawl, as established by Kevin Murphy), per channel swimming tradition, the route distance is measured as the closest point of land from the start location (near Nash Point, Wales).

History

LongSwimsDB: Bristol Channel.


Swim Data

  • Start: 30 June 2021, 07:00 (British Summer Time, Europe/London, UTC1).
  • Finish: 30 June 2021, 16:13
  • Elapsed: 9 hours, 13 minutes.

Summary of Conditions

Feature Min Max
Water Temp (C) 16.9 18.3
Air Temp (C) 15.5 23.3
Wind (Beaufort) F1 F4

GPS Track

Trackpoint frequency: 15 minutes. Download raw data (CSV).

Click to expand map.

Speed Plot

Nutrition


Observer Log

Note: Although observer log notes route as “Glenthorne to Porthcawl,” the swimmer did not land in Porthcawl, but significantly short of that, near Monknash Beach, Wales.



Narrative

The swimmer did not submit a narrative or answer the standard questions.


Photos

The swimmer did not submit photos in the requested format, so they are instead available to view as images of a slide deck.


Video