Porthcawl to Glenthorne

At 16 miles in a straight line, Porthcawl to Glenthorne on the Devon border offers the next step up for marathon swimmers after a Penarth Clevedon swim!

First swum from England to Wales by Kevin Murphy in 1971, and from Wales to England in 2021 by Tom Chapman, this swim has become super popular on the global stage as it is the minimum Bristol Channel swim distance required to complete the Original Triple Crown (English, North and Bristol Channels!

Characterized by a rugged, barren, rocky English coast, powerful tides (even a neap is approximately the power of an English Channel spring), sand banks and glorious wide sandy beaches on the Welsh side, this swim really is for those looking for a truly EPIC adventure!

Water temperatures are similar to the English Channel with it usually around 14 degrees at the start of June, rising to 17-18 degrees in August and the swim season extending into September. Bristol Channel usually only get friendly moon and barrel jellyfish with the occasional compass and very rarely Portuguese man-O-wars blown in.

Write ups of past swims, pictures and videos can be found on the BCSA website here:

Bristol Channel Swimming Association

The details:

Straight line distance is 16 miles but your approximate swim distance can range between 20 and 35 miles with the push of the tide, and swims usually come in around 10-14 hours. It needs to start on a very specific state of tide so can be very early (or very late) start. The swim can be either a wetsuit swim or to channel swimming rules, which would then be eligible to be ratified by the Bristol Channel Swimming Association. We can assist you in this process.

We pilot this swim on our Axopar 28, ‘Sweet Child’ from Porthcawl. Maximum persons is 3 plus the swimmer (but preferably 2+1!). This swim can be done on larger tides by faster swimmers.