A group of 28 staff and pupils from Taunton School Long Distance Swim Club (TSLDC) did exceptionally well in the strenuous one and a half mile St Michael’s Mount Chestnut Appeal Swim.
During August, they took part in the 4th annual swim in honour of ‘The Chestnut Appeal’ which is a charity in aid of Prostate Cancer. The swim is based in a small tidal island at Mounts Bay. Pride of place goes to the courageous 12-year-olds from the prep school, who were the youngest swimmers to have ever completed the swim. Helen Hounslow, Amber Wilson, Josh Green, Macey Barrett, Darcey Coleman and especially Ollie Heard for narrowly claiming second place overall. Emma Hounslow and Freya Tyler, aged 14, nurtured some of the younger boys and girls around the course.
Teacher Hamish McCarthy said all the swimmer’s had to embrace “the feat of swimming in tempestuous maelstrom of conflicting waves on the outward leg, a large rolling swell behind the Mount and wind over an ebbing tide.” He said that this meant that the final kilometre for every 2 metres spent swimming forward, the swimmers were then pushed back a metre.
“Many of the smaller boys and girls had to dig deep into their mental resilience to overcome the phenomenon,” said Hamish.“The iconic St Michael’s Mount Swim is a gruelling test of courage, resilience and endurance. To have all our club members, both young and old, rise to such a significant challenge exemplifies the life changing education we provide at Taunton School. It makes me proud to work at an outstanding institution where our collective aim is to challenge, inspire and nurture children to enable them to fulfil their potential.”
