Pembrokeshire women to make history with swim across Celtic Sea
A team of Pembrokeshire women is looking to make history as the first all-female relay to swim from Ireland to Wales.
Last June, the Bluetits Chill Swimmers channel relay team swam across the English Channel in an impressive 17 hours and 24 minutes.
After completing the swim, Bluetits founder Sian Richardson vowed never to do anything like it again.
'Channel swimming is not a glamorous sport,' she said after the event. "It was very rough and ready.
'When I finished I said the words 'thank you very much, that was amazing but never again'.'
Four days after completing the epic challenge, Sian found herself 'waist deep in the Google' searching for channels that women have never swum before.
'I found one,' said Sian. 'Six months on the boat is booked and this August myself and five other like-minded people who find it impossible to say no to a challenge are swimming this channel. It's a bigger one, and it's scary.'
The team of six includes Bluetit 1 Channel Relay veterans Makala Jones, Laura Voller, Eva McManus and Sian Richardson as well as newbies Elspeth Lewis and Fiona Coombs from Brecon.
(Image: Ella Richardson Photography)
Sian's daughter, Jemeima Richardson, who was also part of the English Channel team will be on hand to support the swimmers.
The Stellar Titan Bluetits team will attempt a world-first all female relay swim across the Celtic Sea — a 52-mile open water challenge from the coast of Ireland to Pembrokeshire.
The swimmers are undertaking the challenge not only to test their endurance and teamwork, but also to raise vital funds to support the continued growth and sustainability of the Bluetits Chill Swimmers.
'This sea is where I was born, where I grew up, and where I still swim,' said Sian. 'The Celtic Sea is part of who I am. This swim is about coming home — from one wild coast to another — and it's also about keeping the Bluetits community alive for future generations of swimmers.'
The Bluetits began in 2014 as a small local group taking dips in the cold waters off the Pembrokeshire coast. It has since become an international movement of over 100,000 people with flocks around the world, offering connection, empowerment, and wellbeing through wild swimming.
The team is being sponsored by Pembrokeshire company Castle Hot Tubs and is looking for other companies to come on board and support them. In turn they aim to raise funds that will help the not-for-profit grassroots Bluetits CIC organisation continue to support the worldwide flocks, run events, and provide resources to new and existing members.
'This is a swim of adventure, of purpose, and of passion,' said Sian. 'We're doing it for every Bluetit who has ever taken that first brave plunge and found a community waiting with open arms.'
For more information and to sponsor the Stellar Titan Bluetits team, visit gofundme.com/f/swimming-home-to-wales-for-the-bluetits-chill-swimmers, linked above.
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