A keen swimmer had to be rescued by her two friends after strong currents in the Bristol Channel left her being swept out along the coast. Ann Hailwood, 72, was enjoying a morning dip with friends at Sugar Loaf Beach in Portishead when the drama unfolded
Ann, who has been cold water swimming all her life, had ventured into the water with friends Elaine Hall and Rose Skuse on the morning of April 7 and had become momentarily distracted when she realised the current had started to take her out into the channel. Despite continuing to try and swim back to shore, the current kept pulling her out, leaving her brave friends to stage a dramatic rescue.
“We had our swim and were still in the water and were chatting,” said Ann. “But after being distracted for just a short while I realised that I had been caught in a strong current and was being pulled out into the channel.
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“I continued to try and swim back to shore but the current was so strong I was just not moving.” At that point Elaine and Rose swam back out to Ann and tried to pull her back to shore.
But again the current proved too strong. Desperate to help their friend, the pair clambered onto nearby rocks and managed to pull Ann out of the water. The trio then clambered along the rocks back to shore.
“If Elaine and Rose had not been there, I would have been swept away by the currents up the channel,” said Ann. "I am so grateful to them for coming to my rescue.
“I have swam from Sugar Loaf Beach all my life. My grandad taught me to swim there when I was six years old. The water was so calm that day so most people would have been unaware of the currents underneath.
“All it took was a couple of moments of not concentrating to get caught in a very strong current to remind me how dangerous the coast can be.” The beach is a popular spot with my local swimmers, including the Portishead Loafers outdoor swimming group.
Ann, a retired painter and decorator, is now warning others of the dangers of the currents and is calling for safety measures installed at the beach to help others that may run into difficulties in the water. “There is no life ring or rope at the beach,” said Ann.
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“If there had been one, Elaine and Rose could have thrown it out to me and pulled me into safety. It wasn’t till I got home that what happened really hit me and I just started to shake.
"I was lucky as the situation could have been a lot worse." Anyone who spots someone in trouble along the coast should call 999 and ask for the coastguard.
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