Swim Meet: Faye — Above

Swim Meet is a conversation series with members of our Crew – the community of local guides and water safety experts who are integral to creating our network of cross-country swimming routes throughout the UK and beyond.

In this edition, we meet Faye Edgar who runs Jurassic Coast Swimming in Dorset.

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Fay and I run Jurassic Coast Swimming on the stunning Dorset Coastline. I am an open water swimming coach, swim teacher and SLSGB lifeguard and trainer assessor.

I set up Jurassic Coast Swimming after doing an epic 75km swim from Lulworth Cove, Dorset to Seaton in Devon. I swam this iconic coastline over 4 days with just myself and a kayaker for support. We slept on beaches under the stars and in isolated campsites, carried all our kit with us (in the kayak no Ruckraft available back then!), ate simply and fell in love with the lifestyle.

From this the seed of Jurassic Coast Swimming was born. How wonderful would it be to take others on mini adventures like this? 6 years later and the dream is a reality and better than I ever expected.

The Jurassic Coast is perfect landscape for Ruckraft adventures. The rugged coastline offers challenges on land and by sea. The coast path is a beast in some places, but the views from the top are incredible.

The Ruckraft adventures will take in iconic landmarks such as Durdle Door, Old Harry Rocks, Portland Bill or Dancing Ledge. We have 4 main routes which allow for wind and swell coming from different directions and during a weekend we would anticipate doing 1 longer and 1 shorter route depending on abilities.

Route 1: Durdle Door-Mupe Bay/Warbarrow (dependant on full or half day options)

Above (hike): 5/9km
Below (swim): 6/7km
Swimmer ability: Intermediate. Confident sea swimmers, must have swum 3k continuously prior to event. Steep hike on full day version.

Route 2: Portland

Above (hike): 9km
Below (swim): 7km
Swimmer ability: Intermediate. Confident sea swimmers, must have swum at least 3k continuously prior to event.

Route 3: Old Harry Rocks (Swanage to Studland) (Long or short route options)

Above (hike): 6-8km
Below (swim): 4.5-6km
Swimmer ability: Intermediate. Confident sea swimmers, must have swum at least 2k continuously prior to event.

Route 4: Dancing Ledges – Chapmans pool – Dancing Ledge

Above (hike): 6km
Below (swim): 6.5km
Swimmer ability: Intermediate. Confident sea swimmers, must have swum at least 3k continuously prior to event.

Find out more about Faye and Jurassic Coast Swimming here and get yourself booked in for one of her retreats.

See our other routes around the UK here.