A team of elite long distance swimmers including a Swanage lifeguard is preparing to take on a gruelling 60 mile relay swim from Alderney in the Channel Islands to Swanage in Dorset, in a bid to achieve a world first.
Mark Bauer who is a landscape photographer, author and open water swimmer, as well as a lifeguard, will join seven other swimmers for the attempt, which could begin as early as Monday 17th August 2026, depending on weather conditions.
The team of eight swimmers is striking out for the South Coast but hoping to end up in Swanage, in an attempt to make history and raise money for disabled swimmers
Never completed before
The team, known as Odyssey Squad 2, has a 10 day window to begin the challenge which has never been achieved before due to the strong tides around the Channel Islands.
Their pilot will make the final decision, but with winds in the Channel Islands currently at Force 2 on the Beaufort Scale – a light breeze – Mark hopes the attempt will begin at the earliest date.
The distance between Alderney and Swanage is around 62 miles or 100 kilometres, but the swimmers know they will be carried away from a direct route by the powerful tides and currents.
If successful, the team expects the crossing to take between 35 and 42 hours, with the eight swimmers taking turns in the water for an hour at a time.
A previous attempt was made last year by the original Odyssey Squad, which managed to get to within around six miles of the South Coast before dangerous conditions forced the team to abandon the swim.
While completing the swim would be an extraordinary physical achievement, the possibility of making history is another major motivation.
Destination Swanage for a team of eight top swimmers aiming to complete a 62 mile swim from the Channel Islands
“People said it couldn’t be done”
Mark Bauer said:
“If we are successful, it will be a world first and that is one of the big motivations for putting the team together, finding something that hasn’t been done before.
“The hardest part of this swim, and the reason why it has not been completed before, is getting out of the Channel Islands because the tides are huge.
“A lot of people said it couldn’t be done, that it wasn’t possible for swimmers to get out of the Channel Islands, but obviously last year’s team proved that wrong.
“Knowing now that it is possible, the challenge will just be to carry on going until we get to Dorset.”
Landscape photographer and author Mark Bauer has joined Odyssey Squad 2, aiming to complete a world first swim
“It would be cool to swim into Swanage!”
Mark added:
“We have an international line up, including Australian and French members in our eight, but Swanage is very much the team’s intended destination.
“When the course was plotted from Alderney to somewhere on the South Coast of England, Swanage was the nearest good landing point.
“If we are taken slightly off course we might end up landing somewhere else, but we are absolutely aiming for here.
“That was what caught my eye when there was a social media shoutout for swimmers, I thought it would be cool to swim into Swanage.
“As a lifeguard, I would very much like to land between the red and yellow flags on the beach, but I’m not sure that will be possible!”
Odyssey Squad 2 aims to finish its 62 mile swim on a beach in Swanage and ideally Mark would like to walk up the beach between the lifeguard red and yellow flags!
One of the greatest in history
The eight-strong team comprises Mark and his brother John Bauer, along with Amanda Bowden, Emma Williamson, Guilliame Le Loher, Justin Meads, Mark Ransom and Terry Wallhead.
It was selected by Australian ultra distance swimmer Chloe McCardel, who has been described as one of the greatest swimmers in history and holds the record for the most English Channel swims, with 44 crossings.
The team will use her boat during the attempt, with the pilot playing a crucial role in plotting a route through the constantly changing tides.
Mark Bauer says that this will be his last big swim, and wants to finish off with a record
“Retired from this sort of stuff”
Mark Bauer said:
“I was a keen swimmer and water polo player as a youngster, but stopped swimming after starting work and only returned to the pool when my son Harry joined a local swimming club – I got bored sitting on the edge of the pool and watching!
“Harry was swimming for Wareham and as I kept driving him there from Swanage I began to think that I should just cross the road and jump into the sea, so that started my interest in open water swimming.
“I have since completed three English Channel relay swims, including a two person relay with my brother John in 2021.
“I had actually retired from this sort of stuff until I saw the Alderney to Swanage swim advertised, which was too tempting to resist – but this will definitely be my last big swim!”
Mark has previously swam the English Channel on several occasions
Raising money for two charities
Mark added:
“Considerably more people have climbed Everest than have swum the Channel – there have only been 3,200 successful solo and relay crossings of the Channel since Matthew Webb first did it in 1875, while there have been nearly 14,000 successful summit attempts on Everest.
“The English Channel is one of the Ocean Seven, the swimming equivalent of the Seven Peaks to mountaineers, and only a handful of people have completed the challenge.
“The others include the North Channel from Ireland to Scotland, the Cook Strait in New Zealand, the Molokai Channel in Hawaii and the Gibraltar Strait.
“They each have different challenges, but they are all extremely tough. I know someone who has completed them all, who said the Hawaiian swim was the most difficult, with huge swells – he also got stung by a Portuguese Man o’ War jellyfish and still managed to complete it.
“I have been stung by compass jellyfish in the English Channel, which is not nearly as bad – it’s like a nasty nettle rash which makes you jump at the time but does wear off fairly quickly!”
The team is raising money for two charities – Level Water, which provides swimming lessons for disabled children who might otherwise not have the opportunity to get in the water, and Guernsey Disability Swimming.
No fundraising target has been set, with the team simply hoping to raise as much as possible.
Further information
- Follow the swim attempt by Odyssey Squad 2 on its Facebook page
- Fundraising pages for Level Water and Guernsey Disability Swimming are on Just Giving
