Worthing Pair Take On Rampion Wind Farm Swim For Mental Health Surf Project

A pair of triathletes from Worthing are taking on the swim from the town's Splashpoint leisure centre to the Rampion wind farm and back this Saturday (12).

Jon Cassell and Nikki Gatland, collectively known as 'A See Change', met while training with the Littlehampton based triathlon club, Tuff Fitty.

This weekend's swim is just the first step in their journey towards completing the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, a 3,000 mile row across the Atlantic.

Jon said:

"I've been swimming with Nikki at the Tuff Fitty triathlon club for the past three years, and in passing I said I couldn't find anyone to row the Atlantic with me - and she just said 'well, I'll do it.'"

Both seasoned adventurers, Jon has completed the Marathon des Sables, a 251km run across the Sahara; and Nikki has most recently completed the Red Bull Neptune Steps, a cold water race and obstacle course in Glasgow.

Part of their mission is to raise £40,000 before December 2021, that will fund a boat which will eventually be donated to Op Surfwell, allowing them to enter a team to any other ocean rowing challenge and continue fundraising to take the project nationwide.

The duo were brainstorming ideas of how to raise money while sat on Worthing beach one day, which is when Jon jokingly brought up the idea to Nikki by pointing at the wind farm, which was enough to convince her.

Nikki said:

"Over the next 18 months we're going to set ourselves bite size challenges... I say bitesize, the first one this Saturday involves us swimming to the Rampion wind farm and back.

"Depending on where you go across the coast, it can be between 13-20km out towards the wind farm.

"We're reckoning it'll be about 14km each way, so around eight and a half, nine miles each way.

"We're setting off Saturday morning before sunrise, at five o'clock in the morning.

"Hopefully we'll make it out there in five or so hours, and pure grit and determination will bring us back.

"For people who want to come along and support us, we're hoping to land between 3-5pm on the beach at Splashpoint in Worthing."

They're hoping to raise awareness and money for Op Surfwell, a project using surfing to help the mental health of emergency service workers, as well as campaign for cleaner oceans.

Jon said it made sense to support this charity in particular:

"Both of us have struggled with mental health, I still struggle with it a lot.

"I've been on and off medication, counselling, that sort of thing.

"For both of us excercise has always been a way of release, particularly swimming.

"With me, I push myself super hard which focuses my mind on what I'm doing, meaning I get away from the stresses and strains of fighting negative mental health.

"We wanted to communicate to other people that a good way of giving yourself a chance of fighting the negative impact of negative mental health is getting out there and doing some sport.

"In particular we came across Op Surfwell, and the great thing with them is that they use surfing in cold water. 

"I'm a surfer as well, and I know from experience that there is a huge positive benefit from that - but they've also found that it's been proven to be the case scientifically."

The challenge is by no means for your average swimmer, the pair have alerted a number of authorities and been in contact with Rampion themselves.

Nikki warned:

"By all means do not attempt this if you're just a generic swimmer, we are well aware of how far out the wind farm is.

"It's not something where you can rock up at the RNLI station and say you fancy kayaking or swimming out there.

"Through friends and family we've been able to secure a safety boat and Hove Lagoon have been so kind in donating that to us.

"We've got a route plotted, we know where we're aiming to land within the wind farm itself, the coastguard will be aware, RNLI will be aware and Rampion vessels are aware, so our safety side will be fully covered."

They're hoping for a warm welcome as they return on Saturday and are planning for a 'Landing Party'.

Nikki added:

"We'd love any confident swimmers, kayakers or paddleboarders to come out and meet us sort of 500 metres off the beach and support us in for that final push." 

You can donate here.