JERSEY Long Distance Swimming Club member Wendy Prunty completed a Round Island swim on Saturday.

Having swam the Channel last year, Prunty is certainly no stranger to the seas and she set off at 7.18 am in a bid to add the round Jersey to her sporting CV.

She finished the race in 10.51.50 hr in what was the 56th circumnavigation of the Island.

Describing the feat she said: ‘When I started it was quite calm and within a minute or two I saw my first jelly fish, I saw eight in total – but no Portuguese Man o’ War though! ‘Between La Rocque and Gorey there was quite a bit of surface scum so I had to follow the engine of the support boat and once I got around St Clement, after about 15 minutes, it got quite choppy and rough – it wasn’t so bad for me but the boat was getting thrown about a bit.

‘The tv mast up on the north coast was a bit of a mind game however, as one minute I was ahead and then level and then be hind, and it felt like I wasn’t going anywhere.

After that, once I got past Grosnez I really enjoyed it.

‘I don’t concentrate on the times but I was quicker than I thought I would go, also a lot of people say seeing land is more comforting than just swimming in the open sea but I know the Island, so for me it was more challenging because I knew what was coming.

‘Going round Corbiere was really good as you got to see it from the other side and also my husband was sitting on the rocks taking pictures; my friends and family were at Noirmont cheering and waving and that was really nice.

Prunty, who now plans to swim Jersey to France next year, was supported on the day by Dee Richards, Pete Blandin and Charlie Gravett.

Meanwhile, initial results from the weekend’s BLDSA 3.5 mile Lake Coniston junior swim show that Jersey’s Tasmin Powell clocked an impressive 2.55.00 hr, Chantelle Le Guilcher a similarly impressive 3.00.55 hr while Tom Nerac ended his swim after 3.36.00 hr due to the cold.

Also, the Mourant relay team (Giles Corbin, Craig Swart, Henry Brandts-Giesen, Lionel Woodward, James Ruane and Simon Gould) who completed the Round Island swim in tough conditions on Friday finished in a time of 10.19.07 hr.