Swim the Sound: VISAR Event Raises More Than $20,000

Each year Virgin Islands Search and Rescue hosts Swim the Sound, a fund-raising event on Virgin Gorda, which takes place in North Sound.

The event, held on June 1st, set a record for participation with 134 people.

Ninety-seven competed in either the two or three-mile swim from Saba Rock to Leverick Bay Resort and Marina, while 37 took part in the stand-up paddleboard race on the same course.

In a category of his own, Biltong was the first dog to complete the two-mile swim.

“He was our first ever dog,” said VISAR Operations Manager Katie Claxton.

Like everyone else, Biltong had to sign a waiver with his paw print before competing. He wore a doggy-sized lifejacket and was kept on track by his owner Gilbo Simpson, who threw a tennis ball about 20ft ahead of him throughout the race. Biltong was also tied to his owner with a piece of rope about six feet long to prevent him from jumping on other swimmers.

“I don’t think we would have made it without the motivation of the ball,” Simpson said. “He got to the first mark quite happily, but then he got bored and we had to play fetch the rest of the way. But we made it.”

Simpson said Biltong raised more money through sponsorship than both him and his fiancée, who also competed in the event. The couple live and work on a charter boat with their dog.

“He [Biltong] loves the water,” Simpson said. He added that the dog has had the lifejacket for ages and wore it in rough weather so that if he fell of the yacht, they could see him.

Mostly residents of the British Virgin Islands support the event. However, several participants hail from the United States Virgin Islands and places as far as Australia, the US and England.

Cassandra Contreras, of St. John, was competing in the event for the first time.

“I love open water swims,” Contreras said, who did the Beach to Beach Swim on St. John the weekend before. “I wanted to do another swim.”

She finished the two-mile swim in 1h 35m 54s.  Contreras works on a day charter boat in the USVI, which comes to the BVI on a regular basis, but it was her first time in Virgin Gorda’s North Sound.

“I enjoyed it,” Contreras said. “It was a nice swim, pretty straight forward.”

For the second consecutive year, the event hosted a stand-up paddleboard race from Saba Rock to Leverick Bay.

“I was surprised with the numbers,” Mark Cochran said. “It was nice to see that many people on a variety of boards.”

It was Mr. Cochran’s first time competing in the SUP event. He finished in fifth place.

Earlier this year, he participated in the Painkiller Cup — a team event that starts at Trellis Bay and finishes at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke.

After the race, he was talking with his former teammates — Kim Takeuchi and Mike Hirst. All three agreed that the VISAR race was very challenging.

“It is short enough that it is still a sprint, but long enough to make it tiring,” Hirst said.

The event is one of VISARs largest fundraisers. Each year, the organization needs to raise $250,000 to meet its annual operational costs. VISAR has two bases — Tortola and Virgin Gorda — with about 45 volunteers.

This year’s Swim the Sound netted $21,000.

Several weeks before the event, VISAR had made two critical rescues, which included an unconscious diver who needed CPR. And, in a separate incident, seven people were rescued by VISAR after a boat accident during the Leverick Bay Poker Run, according to the operations manager.

“That is why it is so important to keep us going and to support VISAR,” she said. “Because when you are in need on the water, we are the people you are going to call.”

 

RESULTS:

SUP
Male: Rodrigo Dos Santos 37m 10s
Female: Kim Takeuchi 43m 52s
Under-18: John Pettigrew 1h 02m 19s

 

2-Mile Assisted
Female: Adele Smith 54m 52s
Male: Dave Pettigrew 1h 01m 37s

 

2-Mile
Female: Amanda Grant 57m 59s
Male: Mark Doig 55m 19s
Under-18: Natalie Fay 1h 27m 54s

 

3-Mile Assisted
Female: Kay Reddy 2h 2m 48s
Male: Jason Kuczek 1h 21m 59s

 

3-Mile
Female: Barbara Crowder 1h 11m 25s
Male: Bob Crowder 1h 14m 52s
Dog: Biltong 1h 34m 33s

Todd Vansickle has written for ALL AT SEA since 2010.