On August 31, 2024, I took part in the Kessock Ferry Swim, near Inverness. Here is my report on the event, which takes place annually.
What is the Kessock Ferry Swim?
The annual Kessock Ferry Swim is organised by local outdoor charity Àban Outdoor Ltd. The event – crossing between the communities of South and North Kessock – was revived in 2022 after a break of 50 years.
The swim takes its name from the ferry that crossed the firth until the Kessock Bridge opened in the mid 1980s.
This distance is around 1200m total and the date and time of the event is carefully chosen so that the firth is at high tide and the waters are “slack”. However, the tidal effect is difficult to predict and, therefore, swimmers should be confident of completing this distance in no more than 60 minutes.
In this year’s event many swimers recorded distances of 1500m to 2000m due to the pull and flow of the tide.
A bridge view – from the sea
Some five minutes into my longest open-water swim last Saturday, I suddenly caught sight of the Kessock Bridge. The long arc over the Beauly Firth shimmered majestically in the bright sunshine and against a blue sky.
I wasn’t sure if it was the unusual view of the road arch, linking the Highlands city of Inverness with the Black Isle, from far below, or the equally rare (for this summer) glimpse of full sun, but it was at this moment that I relaxed and started to enjoy myself.
Pausing my freestyle stroke for a minute or so, I bobbed up my head above the wonderfully calm surface of the sea to enjoy a spell of breast-stroke – and I fully took in my surroundings.
Would I or wouldn’t I?
This was my first Kessock Ferry Swim although I had not been sure if I could take part because just two weeks before I had fallen while doing DIY work at home and cracked a rib. It was only the night before the event, after I had tried a short test swim in a local loch, that I decided I would I give it a go, but at an easy-going pace.
Another decision I left until the last minute was what to wear for the swim. In the summer, I usually discard neoprene wetsuits – both full and short-length – to swim “skins” (that is, swimming costume only).
However, while the sun was shining for the Kessock swim, the weather has been generally cool this summer, which meant the sea was likely to be chilly. I estimated I might be in the sea for about 40 minutes, too, so I opted for my full-length Orca wetsuit, neoprene socks and gloves and a latex swim hat.
Some swimmers looked more insulated than me, with neoprene hoods as well as the full wetsuit, while others wore swimsuits and neoprene socks and gloves. There were also swimmers who entered the water in only a swimming costume and I wondered at their hardiness.
I heard rumours that the water temperature was around 11C and, in the end, I was very grateful for the full insulation.
Kessock swim starts
It was 11.15am when the first swimmers walked down the slipway at South Kessock and entered the firth. These participants had opted to be part of a timed swim, while others, like me, were happy simply to complete the swim. We all wore tracker tags on our arms for safety and I set my GPS sports watch to record my approximate time.
I was one of the last to make it into the water but I was in no hurry. I acclimatised with a short spell of breast-stroke and then broke away from a clutch of other breast-stroke swimmers with a slightly speedier freestyle.
I was determined not to get caught up in a race and I kept to a steady pace. The water didn’t feel too cold at this stage but I was still nervous about how I would fare over the distance and with a dodgy rib.
And then I saw the splendid view of the bridge – and I knew I was going to enjoy the swim a great deal more than I had expected.
As I surveyed the bridge above, I also looked around me. In front, behind and to my right and left, more than 200 swimmers, each with brightly coloured floats attached to them, were spread out as they completed the first crossing.
Some had their heads down, swimming freestyle and seemingly in pursuit of speed, while others set a more leisurely pace, whether freestyle, breast-stroke or back-stroke.
There was a sense – at least from where I was swimming – that this was a laid-back and inclusive event. The faster participants were now hundreds of metres ahead, but there were still many swimmers who were taking their time to enjoy the experience.
Many people were doing a mix of freestyle and breast-stroke and I heard friends chatting as they swam.
I tried to swim a fairly consistent pace, mostly doing freestyle and then switching for shorter periods to breast-stroke me so I could check if I was swimming in the right direction.
Our aim for the first crossing was two large orange buoys located just off the shore at North Kessock but they still seemed so far away.
Instead of worrying, I slipped back into my own world of peaceful freestyle, trying to make sure my technique was as streamlined as possible and thinking of how fortunate I am to live so close to this fantastic outdoor setting.
It is now 3.5 years since I moved to the Black Isle, near Inverness, and every day I am reminded of the natural beauty of sea, lochs and land on my doorstep. In fact, Hubby G and I live the other side of the Kessock Bridge, on the Moray Firth, and I drive or cycle the bridge many times each week.
As I closed in on North Kessock, I could hear spectators on the shore cheering us swimmers. It still seemed like I had a long way to go to swim around the first buoy, then east for a short while to the second buoy before swimming back across the Beauly Firth.
The closer I swam to the buoys, the closer I also came to other swimmers. The large swim group that had fanned out across the firth became funnelled for a while and the water’s surface became rougher as more people kicked their legs and pulled and splashed with their arms.
Return crossing of Kessock Ferry Swim
After the second buoy, I found myself swimming alongside a man, who also had his head out of the water. We discussed briefly which direction to swim in. At that point, the finish at South Kessock was a long way off and I was starting to feel tired.
I could also feel the cold seeping into my hands. I suffer with Raynaud’s Syndrome and my hands are usually my weakest point. Again, how thankful I was that I had chosen to wear the full-length wetsuit.
While the timing of the Kessock Ferry Swim is carefully chosen so that the tide is high and at its slackest (less pull), the water in the firth naturally moves and the swimmers were aware that the longer they took to complete the event, the more the tidal force might be.
I quickly realised that I was being pulled westwards by the current and this meant I needed to pay more attention to my direction. It was an odd sensation because every time I thought I was back on track, I found myself drifting off again.
In the final half of the return leg, the pull became ever greater and the kayakers, who were paddling the firth as safety crew, had the job of guiding swimmers back in the right direction.
This part of the swim seemed to last a very long time. I was tiring but also it took a lot more effort to maintain the right course.
It was great to hear the cheers of encouragement from spectators again, this time on the southern shore.
Then finally, I could see the bottom of the firth below me, a mix of sand and stones, and I was able to stand up. I felt a little wobbly, although I know I would have been very dizzy if I had not been wearing my swimming ear-plugs.
It was greeted by two friends, Vicky and Thorfinn, who had finished their swims ahead of me. As I drifted off to find my shoes and specs, they waited for Thorfinn’s wife Susanna and several of her friends.
I bumped into two people who recognised me. Seeing I was a little chilly, one of them went off to fetch me a cup of tea. There was plenty of free tea, coffee and cakes at the swim finish.
Once Susanna had come out of the water, the four of us returned to the registration area at the Sea Cadets base nearby. Retrieving our bags of dry clothes, stowed earlier in secure units, we quickly changed and then enjoyed a range of free food and drinks, including Black Isle Brewery beers, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
We sat in the warm sunshine, chatting to friends and soaking up a lovely community atmosphere.
Checking my watch later it turned out I had swum 1600m, rather than the billed 1200m, presumably because of the tidal flow. See the line of my swim on Strava.
I highly recommend this event for the amazing experience of swimming the firth and the inclusive atmosphere and community feel. Keep an eye on the website for details of next year’s swim.