Land's End to Scilly relay raises thousands

The team saw dolphins on their swim

The first ever four-person team to swim from Land's End to the Isles of Scilly completed the 35-mile challenge in 16 hours to raise thousands of pounds for cancer patients.

The four men set off on their fund-raising challenge from Nanjizal Bay, near Land's End, at 02:50 BST on Saturday and reached the end of their swim at Pelistry Bay, in St Mary's, at 19:00.

So far the team has raised more than £8,000 for the Sunrise Centre which offers radiotherapy and oncology services at Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

Team member Paul McDermott, a retired Royal Navy officer, said: "This is our first attempt at an offshore swim relay crossing for both the swimmers and boat crew."

The swimmers were accompanied by a team of three on their support boat the Andiamo

He said he and fellow swimmers heating engineer Adam Herbert, retired saturation diver Graham Watts and hip surgeon Gavin Bartlett all wanted a challenge.

All of the men are long-term keen sea swimmers and belong to a swimming group based at St Agnes Surf Life Saving Club.

Mr McDermott said they decided to swim for the Sunrise Centre as it "has multiple personal connections and importance to the members of the team".

The team swam in a relay with swimmers taking to the water for 45 minutes at a time before handing over to the next team member.

The four men completed the last lap together.

They were accompanied by a support boat with a line, lights and buoys to guide them safely along the route.

Mr McDermott said: "We did loads of training for the swim.

"It was so beautiful. It was really warm and so silky. We had lots of luminescence - it was so magical."

They also saw dolphins as they continued on their route and the biggest challenge, they said, was the tidal stream.

The team enjoyed the challenge so much they are thinking about the next one, Mr McDermott added.