Labelled (by Evan Morrison at the Marathon Swimmers Federation) as one of the 'Toughest 13 swims on earth (https://longswims.com/challenges/toughest-thirteen/) and we clocked ‘only’ 22.5km when all was said and done (in ca. 8 hours 14 mins) but the MSF database has it at 19km which is wide of the mark as you really go no-where near the ferry which takes the shortest distance!
I had never swum in the Baltic Sea before but the name itself conjures up a cold image which I needn't have been apprehensive about tbh as the water was generally a perfect 18c! The other bonus was given my preference for fresh water over salt water, the Baltic sea offers a unique experience given it is barely salty at all @ 1/5th of normal sea salinity (given >200 rivers enter the Baltic and only narrow Danish straits allow water in from the North Sea). See here to understand more: (https://marine.copernicus.eu/access-data/ocean-visualisation-tools/baltic-sea-salinity). We even saw swans swimming in the sea (with their signets) and the only jellies were Moon Jellyfish which don't sting.
The Fehmarner Belt or Beltquerung is the stretch of water which separates the beautiful island of Fehmarn in Germany with the island of Lolland in Denmark. Not much tide but notoriously windy which accentuates unique local currents (or Strommungen in German) in the straits and around the islands. We had to reserve our slot for a week on Fehmarn which is no struggle as it's a peaceful place (mainly farming, cycling, windfarms, kite surfing) but if you want more action you'd be bored pretty quickly - luckily we got the swim away early in the week so we could just swan around and chill.
Ca. 40 people successfully completed (including one 2-way) but zero Brits ratified to my knowledge before getting into the water. At the start of 2025, I registered my interest with the Beltquerung admin (Jens Glaesser) here: http://www.beltquerung.de/en.html (they are in the process of upgrading the website to new code thankfully!)
Anyway, a 1:30am alarm clock on Tuesday 12th August for 3am boat & pilot meet before a 2.5 hour boat ride to the start in the northwest part of the Fehmarn as we swam Germany > Denmark given whatever wind forecast set to be mainly southerly. The pilot's boat 'Rochen' is slower than any boat I've ever been on and quite exposed so if you do this swim in the rain it would be pretty miserable for your crew tbh!
Shock to the system at dawn-o-clock....A decent 250m swim from the boat to shore at Altenteiler beach just to clear the water to start…boat’s horn marked the off in the breaking dawn gloom.
Another moment where my brain said to myself 'what on earth are we doing here'?!
But we were in for a proper treat...after a tough first hour with all the swim ahead, we were treated to stunning sunrise (pics below) and a erily calm sea. It was so calm it was like oil. Never experienced such calm swimming in the open ocean.
The sun's dawn rays were dancing thru the sea in front of me and certainly helped to mitigate the daunting task ahead with a welcome distraction
My hourly feeds passed broken up by the odd super-tanker clunking past in front of us and we zoomed past the Fehmarnboje (pencil buoy) which meant we were almost 1/2 done.
However, weird local currents had moved us further east and Didi got on the rail with stern look and arms folded tolling me to up effort level to break it (and counting my strokes which I am not a fan of). That effort level was maintained and I insisted to Amanda that I was pushing as hard as I could (that effort level was maintained) until the end. (Observe the lucky duck hanging from rope in front of Didi - my lucky mascot on each swim!)
I fed every hour mainly cooked new potatoes (very easy to hand to swimmer from boat) with heavily diluted squash with maltodextrin then switched to flat coke and biscoff cream biscuits for final quarter. These biscoffs were great and ideal for end of swim - we smashed the rest of the packed before we got back to port!
Anyway, the finish never came closer but knew end was in sight with Amanda putting on cossie then jumping into the water with 1.3km to go….swam like stink when she got in to leave her behind!
If ever want to look like done a few rounds with Mike Tyson then spend 8 hours in the Baltic Sea!
Picked up a beautiful pink granite pebble, huge feeling of mix of joy and relief. Back to boat, handshakes with Didi and Kevin then 4 hour slow boat ride back to base in Orth. Long day out for an 8hour 14 mins swim!
Special thanks to my firm Berenberg for sponsoring by trunks and hat! Given our company HQ is ca. 2 hours down the road, this was special being the first Brit!
Complete with the Scharz/Rot/Gold-ribboned medal that was presented to me by Did post-swim:
I even made it into various papers in the northern part of Germany and am famous with probs 5 grannies in Luebeck: https://www.bundle.app/en/breaking-news/weitere-beltquerung-brite-schwimmt-durch-die-ostsee-von-fehmarn-nach-danemark-17ED71D2-0FD7-40C7-9B73-83C437FC260F
As ever, over 50% of this achievement is down to the crew. Amanda did all the driving, cooking, organising (you name it) on the trip so all I needed to do was to turn up and deliver. She's one of the finest crew members anyone could wish for so if you fancy this swim in the summer give her a nudge.
The boat 'Rochen' - not the fastest but stable, and has a loo (ideal for female crew). However, a solid 2+ hours to the northern part of the island for a Germany > Denmark swim but easily 4 hours + to make the start-line for a Denmark > Germany swim in the event of predominantly northerly winds...
If you ever plan on doing this swim, I would absolutely insist you stay at Marienleuchte (on the north east of the island) as that has the best jetty to get into and out of the water (I've exaggerated its welcoming with a filter!):
This swim is dedicated to my Father, Richard Sheridan, who died on this very day 2 years prior. He ensured the conditions were propitious and pulled me all the way to the finish line.
Pictured in Feb 2023 with our Blackheath 'Club' blazers after beating Guernsey away en route to the Nat 2 East title. (We didn't miss a game between us that season (home or away)).
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