Former soldier becomes first to make 46-mile swim to the Isle of Man

A former army captain has become the first person on record to swim between the UK mainland and the Isle of Man, in a gruelling 46-mile challenge navigating tricky tides and the near-constant attention of jellyfish.

- Mark Brown

It was something of a "suffer fest", said Adam Diver, as he emerged shattered but smiling from the Irish Sea on Wednesday afternoon.

The next morning he was still feeling the effects. "I am exhausted," he said. "But it was a great team effort.

I'm going to take a couple of days to get my body back in shape. I am very weak and tired as you can expect." The idea of swimming to the Isle of Man came from his 14-year-old son, Dexter, he said. Dexter is a keen competitive swimmer and when pools were shut during lockdown, the pair swam in the sea near their hometown of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Diver's parents live on the Isle of Man and one day Dexter asked if it was possible to swim there.

It planted the seed for an endeavour that is far from straightforward and far more challenging than the cross-channel swim. About 300 people a year attempt the 21-mile swim between the Kent coast and Cap GrisNez, between Calais and Boulogne.

About one in five are successful.