An Edinburgh woman whose breast cancer was discovered after a jellyfish sting has completed a gruelling 58km (36 miles) non-stop sea swim around Jersey to raise money for the NHS team that treated her.
Nicky Mather signed up for this 58km non-stop, non-wetsuited sea swim around Jersey challenge in 2021.
On a training swim in 2022 Nicky swam over a lion’s mane jelly fish at her local Portobello beach in Edinburgh and was stung all over the chest.
In the process of inspecting the sting she discovered a lump that was not the work of a jelly fish. Three weeks later she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, booked in for surgery and started on hormone therapy. After two rounds of surgery, 16 weeks of chemotherapy, intensive radiotherapy and further preventative treatment and medication she has gradually re-built her life.
It was important to Nicky to return to things that were not possible during treatment – including this swimming challenge. It has taken two years to carefully build back her swim fitness and cold-water acclimatisation to be ready whilst also balancing her recovery needs.
The swim
This swim requires a large helping hand from the formidable Jersey tides and currents and very little wind.
Nicky had been allocated a 5-day slot in which she could complete the swim, so really needed some luck for the right conditions to align! It didn’t look like she would get the low-wind forecast needed at all.
On Thursday morning just as she had resigned herself to not swimming and was preparing to go to work, she received a message from the pilot saying ‘Come to Jersey now – we’re swimming Saturday, meet at the boat 7.30am‘! So then a scramble to get herself and crew from Edinburgh to Jersey, supplies organised and to prepare herself mentally for swimming again.
When Nicky finally stepped off the boat and swam to the wall at Elizabeth Castle signalling the swim start, she felt so grateful to be able to do the swim at last.
The first two hours of the swim involved navigating around jaggy rocks so Nicky had to be separated from the main support boat and escorted by a very small boat until they reached deeper waters. She was very glad to be reunited with her support boat and ready for her first feed!
During the swim it is forbidden to be helped in any way: use of buoyancy or thermal aids and sports watches are banned, no one can touch the swimmer and the swimmer cannot touch the boat.
Fuelling has to happen whilst treading water. Nicky’s husband fed her liquid carbohydrate drink from the boat every 45 mins via a rope and bottle. Nicky also likes peaches in syrup as a treat to soothe the mouth and throat from ingesting too much salt water! It’s important to feed fast and keep swimming to avoid losing the tidal advantage so each pit-stop was no more than 15 seconds.
During the first 6 hours of the swim conditions were smooth and Nicky enjoyed swimming past the different places where she had trained for this swim over the past few years.
Jersey is a bit like a rectangle and every time she turned a “corner” she noticed the water became suddenly confused and could feel the currents pulling her in different ways. The second half of the swim the wind picked up and it became much more ‘wavey and choppy’. It was hard to see much other than the very large barrel jellyfish wizzing past underneath Nicky on the currents.
Nicky did however notice the large ferry gliding past at one point and a speeding RIB that came a bit too close to the boat for the pilot’s liking!!! Nicky was very grateful to have a very experienced, alert pilot and crew to keep her safe in very busy waters.
The final 45 mins were really tough, swimming very tired into a headwind. Nicky was very relieved and delighted to touch the walls of Elizabeth Castle again 11 hours 41 mins after starting!
Nicky says: “Overall it was a beautiful and special swim. Touching the finishing wall was not just about completing the swim – it was about celebrating what is possible and making the most of each day.
“This swim is dedicated to the amazing NHS staff at the Western General Hospital and my local Colinton GP surgery. Their swift interventions, expertise and support are the reason I am here and was able to finally complete this swim.”
Nicky is hoping to raise £4000 for the Breast Cancer Institute of Edinburgh at the Western General Hospital Fund S03181.
This Fund is held within and managed by NHS Lothian Charity and is locally administered by stewards with strong links to the Edinburgh Breast Unit.
Every pound raised will support breast cancer research, specialist equipment, education and enhancements to the patient experience:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/nicola-mather-4?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL
