Industry boss Dave McGinn has revealed he was stung in the face by a jellyfish and pursued by a seal during his English Channel conquest.
Alongside five teammates, the Daisy SME CEO completed a charity relay swim of the busy shipping lane last week.
Each swimmer took turns completing hour-long stints in the water before reaching the French coast in 12 hours and 26 minutes.
The team were beset by a variety of sea beasts, including a seal that followed them for “hours”, McGinn revealed.
“I was surprised by how clear the sea was; you could see quite a distance down. It was easy to see the jellyfish (and try to avoid them), although I did get stung quite badly on my face – it did make me swim a bit faster,” McGinn told IT Channel Oxygen.
The original swim date of 31 July was also postponed due to poor weather.
“Then at short notice we were given the 5 August at 8.30pm, meaning we would swim all through the night, which for me added another level of both fear and excitement,” he recalled.
“We even went as far as getting on the boat, leaving the harbour (calm water) to then get hit by loads of waves, and in the words of our skipper, ‘it was due to be calmer than this’.
“He then recommended we go out again at 5am the following morning.”
McGinn’s team smashed their 14-hour target time for the swim.
They are currently 92% of the way to reaching its £5,000 Just Giving target for national spinal injury charity Aspire.
Aspire provides housing, equipment, and essential support for individuals living with spinal cord injuries, enabling them to live independently.
“Every stroke was worth it, knowing it would help Aspire continue its life-changing work for people with spinal injuries,” McGinn concluded.
