THIRTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD Mandy du Feu successfully swam around the Island last Thursday in preparation for a cross-Channel swim next month.

Du Feu, a doctor at the General Hospital, left the harbour breakwater at 7.50 am only to discover, almost immediately, that the first challenge she faced was a shoal of jelly fish.

However, she persevered and swam through them and although she had little assistance fron the spring tide and met more jelly fish during her round-Island swim she persevered and arrived back in harbour in a time of 11 hours 43 min 34 sec.

Du Feu was pleased with her 41-mile marathon, but so, too, was Eoin Gaffney, a 35 year old accountant from Dublin, who had been waiting two years for his round-Island attempt following an injury to his shoulder.

With a strike rate in the mid-50s per minute last Monday his ‘fuel’ stops saw him enjoying a cold concoction based on carbohydrates plus regular snacks of Kit Kat to dispel the sea’s natural salt water taste.

Looking as fresh as when he originally left Elizabeth Castle breakwater, just after six in the morning, he retouched the wall 11 hours 6 min later to record the first success of the season for the Long Distance Swimming Club.

Meanwhile an eight-strong relay team from St George’s Hospital Medical School, Tooting, South London, also made full use of the JLDS Club on Tuesday as they completed their swim in ten hours, 28 min 12 sec.

With two canoeists to help control directional stability and progress and in addition to the JLDSC escort vessel ‘Sea Swimmer’ the main body of the team were accommodated onboard Mark Peters’ cruiser ‘Surfrenzy.

Meanwhile, next weekend, weather permitting, another group of enthusiasts will be having a go.

The two from the UK are Lee Wakeham, and Lucy Pittuck while Ian Byrne is hoping to become the first Australian to ‘conquer’ the Island.

Following that, a team of local club swimmers will be heading for Dover to cross the Channel as a relay – the ‘Jersey Numpties’ – Dario Parmesan, Sally Minty-Gravett, Alison Wood, Katharine Clark, Lucy Biard and Martine le Guilcher.

They will be leaving Jersey on 7 August to have a taste of the ‘Dover Experience’.