AFTER months of training, two friends from Poundstock have swum over 16 miles from Hartland Point to Lundy Island — one of only two successful attempts of the swim to ever be documented.

Friends Steve Maclure and Gary Readman set themselves the challenge earlier in the year to swim to Lundy Island, after casually bringing up the idea three years ago.

What they thought would be an achievable 11 miles soon turned into a whopping 16.25 miles, swimming against the tide and battling the powerful currents of what is known as ‘the Hartland race’.

After months of training locally in Bude Sea Pool and Splash Leisure Pool in Bude, Steve and Gary finally set out for the monstrous swim during the dark, early hours of Friday, September 1, hopping onto a boat from Clovelly to Hartland Point.

Feeling nerves kicking in, but adrenaline flowing through their veins, the boys sat quietly in the boat with their team of supporters until reaching the starting point of their challenge, where both their emotional and physical strength was to be tested.

At 5.50am, they left Hartland Point for a strenuous eight-and-a-half-hour swim.

The swim is only the second attempt of the Hartland to Lundy challenge to be documented in over 60 years. The first was completed by Egyptian man, Captain Hassan Abdel Rahim, in 1952, who undertook the challenge by himself after his partner, Cyril Webber, pulled out due to sea sickness.

Captain Rahim wanted to see if he could complete the challenge in the hope of winning either £250 or ‘four fat bullocks’, and had been lodging with Cyril in Barnstaple.

Just days before the challenge, Steve and Gary were given the opportunity to travel to Bideford to meet Cyril’s son, John Webber, who ended up playing a vital role in providing the boys with a support boat.

Steve said: “It went well. The conditions — let’s just say we would never have gone swimming in there if it was light and we weren’t in the dark. It was basically twilight, so it was difficult to see what the conditions were like until we actually got in the water. It was as choppy as it gets.

“We were so pumped on adrenaline, we just kept on going.”

Steve explained that the pair were surprised when they had reached the nearby Hartland Point lighthouse, adding: “We set about swimming across the current. We didn’t know we were getting swept southwards, and then we realised, this whole swim is choppy. But it was dark, it was basically twilight, so we just couldn’t see until we started swimming.”

Steve and Gary completed the swim in eight hours and 26 minutes, having expected ‘anything between six and eight hours’, and swam a total of 16.25 miles. They had ‘feeding slots’ that were taken at two-mile intervals, but stopping for too long often resulted in cramp and becoming very cold.

The boys were provided with a boat, the Marie J, by Tim Hudson from Tim’s Boats — a 1968 wooden, Cornish clean-cut boat, built in Appledore. The Marie J is not a sea boat, but a ‘sturdy, river-going boat’, according to Steve. He said of Tim: “Without him (Tim), the swim would never have categorically happened. He’s a real character too, and his knowledge was key.”

Steve and Gary had a real run-in just weeks before their challenge was due to take place. Their original support boat had to pull out of the challenge because they had to get involved with a fishing charter, and then their navigator and cameraman also had to pull out because of his commitment to the team undertaking the Smugglers Challenge, which happened to take place around the same time as the Lundy Swim.

However, after meeting John Webber, he recommended Tim Hudson, who was able to provide a support boat, and gained the duo a new ‘lifelong friend’.

Steve and Gary were supported by their team on the boat, who travelled along the route with them and ensured they were safe in the water. The team consisted of Tim Hudson, skipper; Shane Readman, Gary’s son, nutrition, photographer and leader of the social media campaign; Trevor Readman, Gary’s brother, nutrition; and Conrad Mitchell, witness and adjudicator.

When asked about their initial thoughts before entering the water, Steve explained that Gary had been a little nervous when sitting in the boat before the challenge.

“We were really pumped up with adrenaline. We’d only had a few hours’ sleep the night before, but we were both really up for it. We were just happy to be up in time, we had a long ride in the boat from Clovelly, so just kind of wanted to get on with it. It was choppy, Gary got a bit cold. We were a little bit nervous, but keen. When we got there, it’s not like we could have just said, ‘we’re just going to go for a swim’; we had to think, we’re here and it’s happening.”

The challenge seemed to test the boys at all times. Steve and Gary both suffered from severe cramp, and Steve got very cold, which remained with him throughout the swim — which he puts down to lack of sleep the night before. Even coming across two old lobster pots put startled them, with the risk of getting tangled in the ropes and having to be cut free.

Steve said: “I did at one point (want to give up). I think we both did get to that point individually, but I wanted to nearly pack it in when we were quite close to the island. We just went nowhere for about 40 minutes, trying to get into the current that was swelling at the bottom of the island. I just felt for ages we weren’t going anywhere, and I said, ‘we just aren’t going anywhere’. Half an hour later, we started gradually moving across.

“It really was a crucial part of the swim, because the tide was coming in and it was just going to start getting too difficult for us, so we needed to get across.”

Before the challenge, the pair thought they would be swimming the estimated 11 miles to the Lundy Island. However, Steve soon learnt that, realistically, the swim would be around 18 miles. He laughed, saying: “I said, ‘whatever you do, do not tell Gary’ — he just wouldn’t get in the water, else. But we followed the route given to us, and it ended up being 16.25 miles that we swam.

“Swimming along the current made the swim longer, but we just had to battle against it. The conditions were truly horrific — I think our team couldn’t believe we had actually made it.”

Steve and Gary have been fundraising for three local causes, with the money eventually being divided between them. The first cause is Bude Rugby Club’s Minis and Juniors, who are looking to buy new training equipment, and the other two causes are for Ben Bennett and Corey Alway — two young Bude children who are battling very difficult health conditions. The money they will receive will help ease some of the burdens, and make their lives more comfortable.

During their ‘emotional rollercoaster’, the boys have managed to raise, so far, over £7,000 — an astonishing amount considering their first target was £2,000.

Steve said: “It’s literally phenomenal. We had six weeks to get to our target of £2,000, and after I did a massive plug with BBC Spotlight, hundreds of donations flooded in. It’s incredible. Shane, who was on the boat with us, did a few Facebook live videos during the swim. That got hundreds of people watching and liking — people from as far as France and New Zealand. To have completed the swim is amazing, but it’s a bonus to have raised so much money for these local causes in Bude.”

Steve said: “I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who donated. We’re truly humbled, and we’ve been inundated by people with their messages of support and congratulations.

“I’d like to thank Tim Hudson — he’s literally been amazing, and this would have never happened without him — and John Webber; we got him involved and he was the one who put us in touch with Tim, so without his input this would have never happened. I’d like to thank my parents, Ian and Jane Maclure; Gary’s wife, Donna Readman — both of which have given up a lot of their time for us, and to Steve Brownhill Photography, who produced some amazing photographs, and Bude Sea Pool and RNLI beach lifeguards.

“Also thank you to the Landmark Trust of Lundy, who granted us permission to land there, and to John Rous, who sort of owns Clovelly. He made a very nice donation to us. But a massive thank you to everyone. We are truly humbled and overwhelmed. We literally try our absolute upmost to thank everyone. Everything fell into place; it’s been great. The support from everyone has been phenomenal. The whole thing’s been great, but we would never have done it in those conditions in daylight.”

Steve and Gary have dedicated their swim to Captain Rahim and Cyril Webber, who Steve has called his ‘heroes’. He added:?“They did this 65 years ago, without any of the technology and wetsuits. They’re the real heroes of the swim — we salute you!”

To donate to The Lundy Swim, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lundyswim