Devon quartet aiming for a world record
Later this month, four Devon men will be heading for Dover from where they will attempt to break a world record.
All four have completed solo Channel swims.
Now they aim to work together in medley-order, each specialising in a different stroke.
To claim the world record they will have to beat the current time of 11 hours and 29 minutes.
Months of training at sea and in pools has given them the confidence to know they can beat the record.
But it won’t be plain sailing. They will be at the mercy of tides, current and weather conditions which, collectively could add hours to their effort.
The quartet have known each other for many years, all having swum together with Exmouth Swimming and Life Saving Society and the Exe Masters Swimming Club.
Swimming butterfly, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke, they will each be in the water for an hour at a time, repeating the pattern until they hit the French coast.
They will be swimming under the rules of the Channel Swimming and Pilots Federation.
Careful and detailed planning is vital. The swim begins on the say-so of the pilot of the accompanying boat, who has vast experience and knows when the conditions are right.
There will be two official observers on board to make sure they follow the rules. Normally, just one observer is needed but to have a world record verified, a second is required.
Motivation for this swim centres around Ross (butterfly) who lost his mum to cancer only a few weeks after diagnosis. They are raising money for Hospiscare Devon who were there at the end offering pain relief to her and support to the family.
One of the team – Olly White – lives in France. He says: “It is difficult to get us all together at the same time but we meet when we can, two of us, sometimes three.
“Otherwise, we have been doing as much swimming as we can manage on our own, most days either in the pool or in the sea.
“We have tried to simulate crossing by swimming for an hour then waiting for three hours then getting back in again.”
Recently, the four of them got together for a series of practice swims in the sea at Budleigh Salterton.
“We are feeling very confident,” said Olly.
“We are all peaking at the right time and fingers crossed we are injury free. Getting injured is our main worry at our ages. But we have the speed in our team to break the record so long as the weather is on our side.”
So far they have raised over £2,000 for Hospiscare and are hoping the total will climb as the start date approaches. Their story and progress are online at Instagram (channelmedleyrelay2026) and on Facebook (channelmedleyrelay2026).
Swimming the Channel is an expensive effort. It will amount to around £6,000, split amongst four. They are shouldering the costs, every penny of sponsorship money going to Hospiscare.
August 27th could be the date they set off, starting in the dark of night. They have a window of five days to wait for perfect conditions.
Left to right: Ross, Nik, Adam, Olly and Heidi Photo: Paul White.
Profiles
Nik Haynes – backstroke. He swam the Channel solo in 2020 on backstroke. He held the world record for a backstroke crossing until it was beaten last year. He will start the swim during the night. Nik, aged 48, is from the USA but has lived in Lympstone for many years.
Olly White – breaststroke. Completed solo crossing in 2005 on crawl. Has completed the eight-mile Torbay swim on breaststroke which took five hours. With the slowest of the four strokes, his job is to push hard and not lose too much ground. Olly, a former Exmouth resident, aged 48, is from Tavistock, now living in France.
Ross Szender – butterfly. Exceptional butterfly swimmer in the pool. Represented Devon many times in his youth. Been working hard to develop a ‘long distance’ butterfly stroke. On the relay, Ross basically needs to survive. Finding a swimmer capable of swimming an hour of fly three times is not easy. He is irreplaceable. Ross, aged 40, is an Exeter boy who now lives in Cranbrook
Adam Tapp - freestyle. Another very good pool swimmer who turned his hand to open water. Has completed the full length of Lake Windermere in five hours. His job in the medley is to cover as much distance as possible as crawl is the fastest stroke. Adam, aged 40, is born and bred in Exmouth where he still lives.
Also on board
The team is very experienced in Channel-swimming matters. But they will have one extra person on board looking out for them. She is Hiedi Bell-West who they describe as ‘a phenomenal swimmer’. She is a British masters champion several times over. She runs her own sports rehabilitation business and is perfect to help on the boat looking after their ‘old man injuries’. All have known each other for years on the swimming circuit and through the Exe Masters Swimming Club.
