Sandown to Shanklin “Pier to Pier” swim

The 58th Sandown to Shanklin Sea Swim organised by the Isle of Wight Marlins Swim Club as part of Shanklin Regatta took place on 8th August 2010. The main organisers were Gordon Osborne and Nancy Godwin assisted by a team from the club and local residents.

This year there was a record number of swimmers and out of the 126 who had entered 124 made it to registration.However out of these due to unforeseen circumstances, two had to drop out before the start.

The swim took place on the weekend between Sandown Regatta and Shanklin Regatta which meant that it attracted a substantial number of spectators at both the start and the finish. There was a beautiful sunny blue sky and a calm sea making perfect conditions when 122 swimmers took to the water.

As usual, to avoid congestion at the first turning mark, the men started 2 minutes ahead of the ladies. The first two swimmers to complete the 1¾ mile course and land at Shanklin Rowing club, near where the old Shanklin Pier used to stand were Peter Dixon of Bethnal Green Sharks swimming club in a time of 29mins 31secs and Ben Pennington of Spencer Swim Team in a time of 29 mins and 33 secs. Peter Dixon narrowly beat Ben Pennington in an exciting finish where Ben unfortunately tripped up in the run up beach to the finishing line.

The first lady was Rosemary Guard who crossed the line in a time of 31mins 01secs and as Rosemary is an Isle of Wight Lady she was awarded both the trophy for fastest lady and fastest Isle of Wight lady.

The first Island man to finish was Gary Kurth in a time of 34mins 02secs. The oldest competitor taking part was Barney Miller, aged 81 of the Isle of Wight Marlins Swim Club and he finished in a time of 53mins 37secs. The 122nd and last swimmer safely made the finish line in 57mins 39secs.

On finishing all swimmers were given hot soup, a bread roll and a Mini Mars bar. The swim was supported by Sandown Lifeboat who acted as the control boat and Ryde Inshore Rescue. In addition Shanklin Deep Sea Angling Club provided 8 boats and close swimmer support was provided by 29 local Kayakers led by Adrian Brown. The British Red Cross were in attendance but their services were only required for one minor case of medical assistance.

Results for this year’s swim are available here.

Final Results
Results – Overall Year Groups
Results – Female Year Groups
Results – Male Year Groups